Gov. Kevin Stitt withdraws Shelley Zumwalt's nomination for cabinet secretary post

The nomination of Shelley Zumwalt, the embattled director of the state's tourism department, to be Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt's Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, has been withdrawn from consideration, The Oklahoman has learned.

The withdrawal of the nomination was made by Stitt in a letter to Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-OKC, on Friday.

"I would like to respectfully withdraw the nomination and appointment order filed January 16 for Shelley Zumwalt as a member nominated to the Governor's Cabinet, serving as Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage," Stitt wrote. "Your assistance with this matter is greatly appreciated."

The letter follows a statement by Treat that he wasn't sure the Senate would advise and consent to Zumwalt's nomination. Zumwalt was harshly criticized in an audit released by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. "That comes into question," Treat said. "I can't make any firm commitments either way."

Treat said the Senate wanted to make sure that Zumwalt was treated fairly during the confirmation process, but added that "we want to make sure we take the executive nomination process very serious."

On Friday, Stitt hinted to Capitol reporters that Zumwalt might step down from the cabinet after release of the Byrd audit. “She said, ‘Hey governor, you know until this is all sorted out, I will step down from the cabinet and focus on tourism. And so we may do that,” Stitt said.

At present, Zumwalt remains the head of the Department of Tourism. During an hastily-called press conference last week she said she would not resign that post.

The withdrawl of Zumwalt's nomination was praised by Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

"I commend Gov. Stitt for withdrawing the nomination of Ms. Zumwalt, who should not be allowed to serve in any leadership position that oversees the expenditure of our tax dollars," Drummond said in a text statement to The Oklahoman. “I called on Ms. Zumwalt to resign last week after audit findings revealed she directed millions of dollars to her husband’s company, but she has refused. Gov. Stitt should immediately terminate her employment in order to protect further abuse of public funds.”

The controversy began last week after state Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd released an audit of federal pandemic funds from 2022 which was harshly critical of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and Zumwalt. At that time, Zumwalt was the executive director of OESC.

After Byrd's audit was released Drummond to call for Zumwalt's resignation.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Zumwalt's nomination for Secretary of Tourism withdrawn