Obama said to nominate Sally Jewell to head Interior Department

— President Barack Obama will nominate Sally Jewell, president and chief executive officer of Recreational Equipment Inc., to become secretary of the Interior Department, an administration official said on condition of anonymity in advance of a formal announcement.

The selection of Jewell, who would succeed Ken Salazar, was reported earlier Wednesday by The Washington Post.

Jewell is the president and chief executive officer at the outdoors company Recreational Equipment Inc., known as REI, which sells clothing and gear for outdoor adventures with more than 100 stores across the country. Prior to joining REI in 2000, Jewell worked in commercial banking and as an engineer for Mobil Oil Corp.

Jewell is the first woman in Obama’s crop of second-term Cabinet nominees. The White House faced criticism that the new Cabinet lacked diversity after Obama tapped a string of white men for top posts, but Obama promised more diverse nominees were in the queue for other jobs.

Obama was to announce Jewell’s nomination during a ceremony in the White House State Dining Room on Wednesday afternoon, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to confirm Jewell’s nomination ahead of the president.

Information for this article was contributed by Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.

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