Susan Combs

Susan Combs (born February 26, 1945) is an American politician, having served elected office in Texas and served as the Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior as an appointed official under President Donald J. Trump.

Combs' first electoral outing was for the 47th legislative district, in Travis County.

She won the Republican runoff election by seven votes over intraparty challenger Bill Welch.

Combs polled 2,279 votes (50.07 percent) to Welch's 2,272 (49.92 percent).

The two had led a five-candidate field in the primary.

In the general election, Combs handily defeated the Democrat Jimmy Day, 45,355 (65.4 percent) to 23,987 (34.6 percent).

Combs served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993 and 1996, resigning midway in her second term to join the staff of U.S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the lawmaker's state director.

She was succeeded by fellow Republican Patty Keel of Austin.

Prior to her tenure as comptroller, Combs had served two terms as commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007, taking the reins as the first woman elected to that office in 1998.

Combs also served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

Combs served as the Texas agriculture commissioner from 1999 to 2007, being the first woman to serve in the position.

She succeeded Rick Perry as commissioner, who was instead elected as lieutenant governor.

As agriculture commissioner, Combs worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to protect the golden-cheeked warbler.

A stronghold for the bird is the Fort Hood Army Base.

The golden-cheeked warbler, also known as the gold finch of Texas, is the only bird species with a breeding range confined to Texas.

Fort Hood has the largest known population of golden-cheeked warblers.

The Army base needed a way to mitigate its impacts on the golden-cheeked warbler.

A Republican, Combs served from 2007 to 2015 as the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

On July 10, 2017, U.S. president Donald Trump nominated Combs to be the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget at the United States Department of the Interior.

Earlier in the year, Trump had considered naming Combs to be the secretary of agriculture, a position which went instead to Sonny Perdue, a former governor of Georgia.

The administration cited Combs' career in public office and in the private sector as a small business owner with a ranch in the Big Bend section of West Texas as factors in her selection.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn said that he will work for Combs' confirmation and called her "always a fierce advocate for rural Texans."

Her nomination to be the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget was approved on a party-line vote in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

However, the full Senate did not take up her nomination and sent it back to the White House at the end of 2017.

On July 10, 2017, Combs was nominated by U.S. president Donald Trump to be the assistant secretary of the interior for policy, management and budget.

As a former Texas state comptroller, the Texas legislature gave control of the state's endangered species program from the Department of Parks and Wildlife to Comb's office, which managed state fiscal and tax matters.

However, because of the economic impact of certain endangered species designations, the office of comptroller was viewed as necessary to oversee the State's endangered species program.

She also worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard, ensuring that the lizard's habitat was protected while also ensuring the economic value of the oil and gas economy.

Combs was born in San Antonio.

She grew up in a ranching family in West Texas.

She runs a cow-calf operation on her family's ranch in Brewster County; the ranch has been in her family since the turn of the 20th century.

She lives in Austin with her husband, Joe W. Duran, a computer scientist.

She is the mother of three sons.

Combs graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, majoring in French and religion.

She worked in international advertising in New York City, in the financial markets on Wall Street, and for the U.S. government before returning to Texas to obtain credentials from the University of Texas Law School at Austin.

After graduation from law school, she served as an assistant district attorney in Dallas, Texas.

In 2018, the Trump administration re-nominated Combs to the same position.

More than 70 conservation organizations sent a letter to the Senate opposing her nomination.

She was confirmed by the United States Senate with a vote of 57–36 on June 5, 2019.

On April 13, 2020, Combs submitted her resignation which went into effect on April 25, 2020.