Tag: Trump Interior Department

Zinke is the Cabinet official most vulnerable to Democratic probe, White House fears

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has come under scrutiny on multiple fronts. He faces inspector general probes and has faced more than a dozen investigations. (Luis Velarde /The Washington Post)

White House officials have identified Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke as the Cabinet member most vulnerable to a congressional probe under a Democratic House majority in January, putting the colorful secretary closer into the president’s crosshairs, according to two senior administration officials briefed on the matter.

The new assessment comes as President Trump is weighing whether to dismiss Zinke, according to the officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Trump has told aides he will make a decision next week after he returns from Paris.

At the White House on Friday, Trump gave Zinke a tepid vote of confidence. Asked whether he would fire Zinke, the president said “No” but quickly added,“I’m going to look into any complaints.”

View the complete November 9 article by Juliet Eilperin, Lisa Rein and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Newly released emails suggest Zinke contradicted ethics pledge

The interior secretary continued to work on issues regarding his Montana land holdings in 2017 despite a one-year recusal.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke continued to engage in discussions involving his family foundation’s property in summer 2017 despite the fact that he had pledged to recuse himself from such matters for a year, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

At issue is an August 2017 email exchange with David Taylor, the city planner for Whitefish, Mont. Zinke authorized him to access the property and explained that he was engaged in negotiations with a real estate developer over building a parking lot on his foundation’s land. But under an ethics pledge he signed Jan. 10, 2017, Zinke vowed to step down from his position as president of the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation after winning confirmation and refrain from participating in any matters concerning the group for one year.

Zinke won confirmation on March 1, 2017, but state records and the foundation’s 2018 annual report listed him as continuing to serve as a foundation officer months after that. Zinke later said the foundation’s report was in error.

View the complete November 5 article by Juliet Eilperin on The Washington Post website here.

Interior watchdog referred Zinke probe to Justice days before move to replace agency IG

The Interior Department’s internal watchdog referred its investigation of Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Department of Justice (DOJ) more than two weeks ago, just days before it was announced that Interior would be getting a Trump political appointee to replace its acting inspector general, two sources confirmed to The Hill.

Ben Carson, head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), told his staff on Oct. 12 that Suzanne Tufts would be leaving HUD to replace Interior’s longtime acting inspector general (IG), Mary Kendall — after the watchdog referred its probe to the Justice Department, according to two government sources with knowledge of the timeline.

One source described the timing as “incredibly circumspect” and raised questions about whether the plan to have Tufts fill a position traditionally occupied by a career staffer was in reaction to the investigation that was referred to the DOJ.

View the October 31 article by Miranda Green on the Hill website here.

Trump team blames ‘terrorist groups,’ not climate change, for wildfires

The following article by Dan Desai Martin was posted on the ShareBlue.com website August 16, 2018:

Citizens petitioning their government, a right protected in the First Amendment of the Constitution, are being called ‘terrorists’ by the Trump administration.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP Photo

In a desperate attempt to blame anything except climate change for the deadly wildfires rampaging across California, Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blamed “environmental terrorist groups” for the blazes. The escalation of rhetoric is a troubling trend in an administration known for authoritarian impulses.

Within the first minute of an interview with Breitbart, a site with known white supremacist ties, Zinke used the word “terrorist” to describe groups that have different political ideas than him.

Zinke claims, citing no specific examples, that environmental groups prevent the type of forest management Zinke says would prevent these catastrophic wildfires. The result is an increase in the “fuel load” that feeds fires, such as dead limbs and twigs.

View the complete article here.

 

Zinke takes forestry fight to fire-ravaged California

The following article by Miranda Green was posted on the Hill website August 12, 2018:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is seizing on California’s wildfires to promote a policy long-supported by Republicans — that fires could be stopped if forests were logged.

The former Montana congressman is poised to push the benefits of what’s known as forest management at an event with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in California on Monday next to the state’s largest forest fire in history.

Yet it’s not just the blaze that makes the trip important for Zinke and Perdue.

View the complete article here.

Endangered Species Act stripped of key provisions in Trump administration proposal

The following article by Darryl Fears was posted on the Washington Post website July 19, 2018:

Wood bison move toward higher ground at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Wood bison, which are larger than the plains bison found in the Lower 48 states, disappeared from U.S. soil more than a century ago. Credit: Dan Joling, AP

The Trump administration unveiled a proposal Thursday that would strip the Endangered Species Act of key provisions, a move that conservationists say would weaken a law enacted 45 years ago to keep plant and animal species in decline from going extinct.

The proposal, announced jointly by the Interior and Commerce departments, which are charged with protecting endangered wildlife, would end the practice of extending similar protections to species regardless of whether they are listed as endangered or threatened. If the proposal is approved, likely by year’s end, protections for threatened plants and animals would be made on a case-by-case basis.

In another rollback of a key provision, the administration wants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to strike language that guides officials to ignore economic impacts when determining how wildlife should be protected.

View the complete article here.

These Trump Staffers — Including an ex-NRA Lobbyist — Left Their Financial Disclosure Forms Blank

The following article by Gabriel Sandoval was posted on the ProPublica website June 28, 2018:

The Interior Department acknowledges that many of its employees’ forms “were not reviewed and certified properly.”

Before accepting a position at the U.S. Department of the Interior last October, Benjamin Cassidy championed gun rights for nearly seven years as a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, collecting a peak annual salary of $288,333 for his work on Capitol Hill.

The public wouldn’t know that by looking at Cassidy’s government financial disclosure report. The form, which he filed soon after taking a job as senior deputy director of the office of intergovernmental and external affairs, doesn’t list his old job at the NRA — or any past job, for that matter. Cassidy’s form was nearly blank, save for his name, title and some bank holdings and investments. In the space allotted to show his income, it incorrectly stated “None.”

Benjamin Cassidy’s Financial Disclosure Report

BENJAMIN CASSIDY’S 2017 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT (p. 2)
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Benjamin Cassidy, senior deputy director of the office of intergovernmental and external affairs, doesn’t list his old job as a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association.
View the entire document with DocumentCloud

Continue reading “These Trump Staffers — Including an ex-NRA Lobbyist — Left Their Financial Disclosure Forms Blank”

Trump Administration Targets Obama-Era Effort to Limit Methane

The following article by Lisa Friedman was posted on the New York Times website February 12, 2018:

An Obama-era rule would have limited the flaring of natural gas, as seen here at an oil well near Watford City, ND Credit: Andrew Cullen/Reuters

The Trump administration on Monday moved to repeal one of the last unchallenged climate-change regulations rushed into place in the waning days of the Obama presidency — a rule restricting the release of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere.

The rule, which applied to companies drilling for energy on federal land, has been the subject of intense court battles and delay efforts, as well as one surprise vote last year in which Senate Republicans temporarily saved it from being torpedoed.

Methane, which is about 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, accounts for 9 percent of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions; about a third of that is estimated to come from oil and gas operations. Under the rule, oil and gas companies would have been required to capture leaked methane, update their equipment and write new plans for minimizing waste when drilling on government property. Continue reading “Trump Administration Targets Obama-Era Effort to Limit Methane”

Zinke’s agency held up Indians’ casino after MGM lobbying

The following article by Nick Juliano was posted on the Politico website February 1, 2018:

Two tribes in Connecticut say the Interior Department illegally failed to say yes or no to their plans for a third casino in the state.

The Interior Department’s refusal to sign off on the tribes’ plans for a third Connecticut casino came after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and other senior department officials held numerous meetings and phone calls with MGM lobbyists and the company’s Republican supporters in Congress. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Two casino-owning American Indian tribes are accusing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of illegally blocking their plans to expand operations in Connecticut — a delay that stands to benefit politically connected gambling giant MGM Resorts International.

The Interior Department’s refusal to sign off on the tribes’ plans for a third Connecticut casino came after Zinke and other senior department officials held numerous meetings and phone calls with MGM lobbyists and the company’s Republican supporters in Congress, according to a POLITICO review of Zinke’s schedule, lobbying registrations and other documents. The documents don’t indicate whether they discussed the tribes’ casino project. Continue reading “Zinke’s agency held up Indians’ casino after MGM lobbying”

While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about “shitholes”

The following article by A.P. Joyce was posted on the mic.com website January 12, 2018:

Credit: Shutterstock

This week the media was roiled by the revelation that the president of the United States argued against accepting immigrants from what he reportedly called “shithole countries” in Central America, Africa and the Caribbean, arguing instead for more immigrants from countries like Norway.

But as the nation struggled to define what constitutes overt white nationalism, Trump’s cabinet continued to make drastic policy changes that will affect millions of Americans. Here’s what you might have missed. Continue reading “While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about “shitholes””