Ryan Zinke is a fifth generation Montanan who serves as Representative for Montana's First Congressional District covering 16 counties in western Montana including the cities of Bozeman, Butte, Missoula, Kalispell. First elected to Congress in 2014, and serving as U.S. Secretary of the Interior between noncontiguous terms, Zinke has built a track record of accomplishments in energy, conservation, tribal and military issues. Now in his third term, Zinke is a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, focusing his legislative agenda on restoring accountability to federal spending, restoring American energy dominance, and bolstering national security at our borders and beyond.
Ryan began public service in 1985 when he joined the U.S. Navy and graduated from Officer Candidate School. He was recruited to join the U.S. Navy SEALs where he went on dozens of deployments targeting terrorist cells in Asia, war criminals in the Baltics, and combatting the rise of radical Islamic terrorists in the middle east. During his military career he held a number of leadership positions including as Ground Forces and Task Force commander at SEAL Teams SIX oversaw the U.S. Navy SEAL BUD/S training after 9/11, and was Deputy/Acting Commander of Joint Special Forces during the Iraq war. In 2006 he was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. Commander Zinke retired from active duty in 2008 after serving for 23 years.
Following his military service, Ryan was elected to the Montana State Senate and was twice elected as Montana's sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his first two terms as Congressman, Zinke served on the House Armed Services Committee and Natural Resources Committee. As a leading member of the Natural Resources Committee, Ryan challenged the Obama Administration on their policies that locked Montanans out of public lands and introduced legislation to strengthen public access and conservation.
In December 2016, Congressman Zinke was nominated to be the United States Secretary of the Interior by President Donald J. Trump and later confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate.
Ryan is a fifth generation Montanan who was born in Bozeman and lives on the same property in Whitefish his family has called home since the 1950s. In high school, Ryan served as class president and was a multiple sport, All-State athlete who earned a place in the Whitefish High School Football Hall of Fame. He received an athletic scholarship to the University of Oregon where he lettered all four years and graduated with a B.S. in Geology. He also holds a Masters in Business Finance from National University and a Masters in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego.
Ryan is married to the former Lolita Hand and together they have three children: two sons, Wolfgang and Konrad, a daughter Jennifer. Ryan and Lola are grandparents to two granddaughters.