A key House Republican is seeking an audit of the Interior Department’s ethics office following multiple reports of ethical misconduct from senior Biden administration officials.
In a letter Monday to the Interior Department’s inspector general, Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman said he had “significant concerns” that the Departmental Ethics Office is failing to ensure compliance after two watchdog groups last Tuesday accused Elizabeth Klein, Secretary Deb Haaland‘s senior counselor, of working on matters that involve her former employer and clients.
Westerman, the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, added in his letter that the Interior Department has failed to respond to some 46 congressional inquiries on political appointees’ compliance with ethics standards. The requests, Westerman said, are 228 days overdue and counting.
“Despite numerous congressional inquiries spanning nearly a year, DOI repeatedly fails to produce adequate responses to concerns about Department employees who face potential conflicts of interest,” Westerman wrote. “DOI’s refusal to cooperate with congressional oversight related to ethics compliance prompts questions about the efficacy and efficiency of the Departmental Ethics Office (DEO).”
SENIOR BIDEN OFFICIAL LIKELY VIOLATED FEDERAL ETHICS LAW, WATCHDOGS CHARGE
Westerman called for an audit of the office by the Interior Department’s inspector general to determine how its political appointees are advised on ethics, recusal obligations, screening arrangements, and waivers.
Two watchdog groups, Energy Policy Advocates and Protect the Public’s Trust, filed a complaint last Tuesday alleging that Klein failed to disclose to ethics officials all of the clients she worked with as part of her work with the Mike Bloomberg-funded State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, which placed lawyers in the offices of Democratic state attorneys general to file legal challenges against Trump-era federal environmental policies.
“If [Klein] has duties to her former clients who are suing the government using Mike Bloomberg’s money, she can’t also serve in the government and respond to those same clients’ legal complaints or petitions,” Matthew Hardin, a board member for Energy Policy Advocates, told the Washington Examiner.
Westerman also highlighted reports suggesting that another Interior Department official, Deputy Solicitor for Water Daniel Cordalis, may have also worked on matters that involved his former private-sector client.
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Westerman said the Interior Department’s failure to respond to congressional inquiries on allegations of ethical misconduct “creates the perception that the Department is hiding information from the public.”
“To ensure the implementation of an effective ethics program at DOI, we urge the OIG to audit the DEO,” he said.
