Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is starting to look like the next Scott Pruitt.

Zinke's loose concept of vacation time and meetings with GOP-friendly billionaires even has President Trump complaining, The Washington Post reports. And now, with Democrats about to take over the House, White House officials are reportedly worried Zinke's missteps may walk him right into a congressional investigation.


Since Zinke entered the Trump administration a year and a half ago, public records show he's taken 66 personal days off, not including weekends and holidays. Senior officials are usually allotted 39 in the same time, the Post notes. He's also been very open to impromptu meetings with donors to his PAC, conservative activists, and other billionaires, emails obtained by the Post show.

Zinke has already been the subject of several ethics investigations thanks to his reportedly questionable leadership. But House Democrats pose a higher-profile threat, especially since their congressional probes wouldn't be conducted by Trump's Department of Justice. This possibility — along with Zinke reportedly looking into some new jobs, per Politico — all suggest Zinke could be on the outs.

Trump told reporters Thursday he'd decide Zinke's fate "in about a week," but said Friday he wasn't planning to fire Zinke. Still, Zinke may want to start looking for that horse he rode in on. Kathryn Krawczyk