Megan Barnett Bloomgren, GOP operative and former acting deputy chief of staff at the Interior Dept., has joined the American Petroleum Institute as VP-communications.

Megan Barnett BloomgrenMegan Barnett Bloomgren

She takes over for Linda Rozett, who is retiring this month after a seven-year stint at the oil and natural gas trade group.

Bloomgren, a former partner at DCI Group, was a member of Donald Trump's transition team and acted as "media sherpa" for then-Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke when he was announced as Interior Secretary nominee.

Before joining DCI in 2011, she spearheaded strategy & operations at the US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy and served as deputy director of PA at the Department of Energy.

API, which is headed by Jack Gerard, says its members account for eight percent of the US economy and support 9.8M jobs.