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Former Trump Cabinet secretary Ryan Zinke won’t seek reelection to a Montana US House seat

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Ryan Zinke, a Montana Republican who served as interior secretary during President Donald Trump’s first administration, said Monday that he will not seek reelection to a fifth term in the U.S. House, citing health concerns.

The decision gives Democrats an outside chance to pick up a House seat this fall in a state that has veered to the right politically over the past decade. Republicans have a narrow 218-214 majority, with three seats vacant ahead of the November midterm elections.

Zinke, 64, a former Navy SEAL from Whitefish, Montana, said in a letter to constituents that he underwent multiple surgeries in recent years and faces more treatment for injuries sustained during more than two decades in the military. He said his condition, which he did not specify, was not life-threatening but required considerable time for recovery.

“My judgement and experience tell me it is better for Montana and America to have full-time representation in Congress than run the risk of uncertain absence and missed votes,” he wrote.

After four years in the Montana Legislature, Zinke was elected to the U.S. House in 2014. He was tapped as Trump’s interior secretary in 2017 but resigned in 2018 amid numerous ethics investigations. His political career bounced back in 2022 when Zinke narrowly won in a newly created congressional district in western Montana. He won again in 2024 by a comfortable margin.

Several Democrats already had lined up to challenge Zinke in the November election, including former gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse and union organizer Sam Forstag.

“Ryan Zinke quit because he saw what was coming: all of us,” Forstag said in a statement, adding that people in western Montana wanted new leadership.

On Monday, Zinke and Montana Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy endorsed conservative talk radio host Aaron Flint, who announced his candidacy in a social media post. Zinke said Flint, a combat veteran, “is the next generation of leadership Montana needs.”

Also joining the race was Flathead County Republican Committee Chairman Al “Doc” Olszewski. The former state senator and surgeon who served in the Air Force came within 2 percentage points of beating Zinke in the 2022 GOP primary. He filed paperwork to run hours after Zinke announced he would not, and told The Associated Press the eventual Republican nominee will need broad appeal to win in November.

“The Democrats have a fair shot at this race,” Olszewski said. “This is not a safe Republican district.”

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said Zinke was a “champion for Montana,” first as a SEAL and later in politics. Gianforte won a special House election to fill Zinke’s seat after the Republican joined Trump’s Cabinet.

During his time at the Interior Department, Zinke worked to advance Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda and to boost oil and gas extraction from government lands.

He also advocated for conservation and last year led efforts to remove the potential sales of public lands from a Republican budget proposal against opposition from some in his party.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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