ENERGYWIRE | Ex-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has launched a new firm stacked with veterans of his former department who say they're well-positioned to help clients navigate Trump 2.0.

The Bernhardt Group’s founding partners include several officials who served in senior roles at Interior during Trump’s first term. Cole Rojewski served as Interior’s director of congressional and legislative affairs, Todd Willens served as chief of staff, and Luke Johnson served as deputy director of policy and programs at the Bureau of Land Management.

“We know how this administration moves — because we helped move it before,” Bernhardt said in a statement. “I believe our experience at that level of government gives us unmatched insight into how to maximize opportunities for our clients.”

Other partners at the new firm include Jon Hrobsky, who served at Interior during the George W. Bush administration and later worked for the National Ocean Industries Association; and Bill McGrath, former staff director for the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Interior, Energy and Environment.

“This is a period of time where there's extraordinary change going on in the executive branch, and it really requires people that are not only knowledgeable about how to get a meeting, but understand the operating environment for that particular agency,” Bernhardt said in an interview.

He sought a team of people who have “served in the foxhole together” and who “understand exactly how to execute within the agencies,” Bernhardt said.

He expects that some members of the team will be registered lobbyists.

Bernhardt, who previously worked at the firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, said the new group will continue to collaborate with that firm going forward.

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