The U.S. Senate officially confirmed Doug Burgum to be the 55th Secretary of the Interior. Burgum will now be in charge of overseeing the nation’s public lands, national parks, and wildlife refuges. He’ll also essentially be in charge of the country’s energy policies as President Trump named him to lead the newly formed National Energy Council.

The Senate will vote Thursday to confirm Doug Burgum for Interior secretary. The chamber will also take a procedural vote on Chris Wright for the Department of Energy.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press reveal Doug Burgum as North Dakota governor catered to the whims of oil and gas executives while leveraging those connections to expand his political profile.

Burgum met the threshold for a vote to proceed with a full Senate debate, meaning his final vote for confirmation will be Thursday night or Friday.

The Senate voted Wednesday evening to close debate on Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department. The former North Dakota governor is likely to be confirmed easily after the 78-20 cloture vote, with 25 Democrats voting in favor.

The Senate voted 78–20 to advance President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, for a final confirmation vote. That isn’t expected until Thursday.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. During Doug Burgum’s two terms as North Dakota governor,

WASHINGTON — Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has cleared a vital step in his bid to become Interior secretary.