This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump’s nominee to handle endangered species, whose experience and political ties have been questioned by environment experts, came under scrutiny from Senate Democrats on Wednesday for potential conflicts of interest.

Aurelia Skipwith, the interior department’s deputy assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks, previously worked for the agrochemical giant Monsanto, as well as another agriculture business and her fiance’s consulting firm, Gage International.

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Skipwith’s nomination to run the US Fish and Wildlife Service follows a trend of former industry advocates selected to run the government. The interior department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are both run by former lobbyists.

Tom Carper, the Senate environment committee’s ranking Democrat, said Skipwith had not responded to a letter with questions about how she would avoid being involved in decisions that would benefit her past employers until the night before the hearing, and even then her answers were incomplete.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has already made one decision in favor of Monsanto, rescinding a ban on farms within national wildlife refuges using bee-killing pesticides and the genetically modified crops that can withstand them. Skipwith told lawmakers she had no part in that decision.

The Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse also highlighted that Skipwith, who had not donated to any political campaign in at least 10 years, made a $5,600 contribution to the Trump campaign just days after she was renominated for her position.

After the hearing she said she could not provide any further context, except that the donation was made in her “personal capacity”.

Many Trump nominees question the science that shows humans are causing the climate crisis. Skipwith said she acknowledges the climate is changing and that humans are contributing.

The Fish and Wildlife Service recently weakened the process for protecting at-risk species, changing it in a way that is less likely to consider the effects of rising seas and heat and more likely to benefit fossil fuel companies and other industries.

Questioned after the hearing, Skipwith argued the service will consider the best data, including on climate change.

But, she said, “it’s about following the law”.

Skipwith has broad support from conservative groups and strong opposition from environment advocates.

Jayson O’Neill, deputy director of the Western Values Project, said Skipwith’s “résumé is surprisingly scant for someone that would be charged with managing America’s fish and wildlife”.

He added: “Like so many other Trump political appointees, Skipwith has already rubbed elbows with oil and gas interests and is poised to continue to curry favors for special interests at the expense of our public lands, fish and wildlife if she is confirmed.”

The group cited a July 2017 memo from Skipwith requesting a review of rules that keep hunters from killing bears and wolves with techniques such as “baiting the animals with greasy doughnuts, ambushing mothers with pups in dens and shooting animals from boats while the bears are swimming”.