Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt held surprise discussions with Capitol Hill staff earlier this week to help make the legal case for using maintenance funds to keep national parks afloat during the shutdown, a move Democrats are saying demonstrates the administration’s resolve not to open the government.
Bernhardt visited with Natural Resources Committee staff from both sides of the aisle on Tuesday at a special briefing at Interior headquarters ostensibly meant for laying out the legal opinion that justifies Interior’s move to use maintenance money to pay park staff, according to Democratic and GOP committee aides privy to the meeting.
However, Democrats saw Bernhardt’s presence as odd because the gathering was not supposed to be a meeting between staff and a senior Cabinet official. It was simply billed as a time for the agency counsel to share a legal opinion, said an aide. Democrats saw the maneuver as a sign that the agency is digging in for a potential drawn-out shutdown.
Staff for Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the committee’s ranking Republican, defended the administration’s legal discretion to use the funds under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which is meant to fund maintenance and park upgrades through the collection of entrance fees.
Committee Chairman Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., has said the action is illegal, as the collected fees were not designed to pay workers.
But GOP aides are arguing that the Democratic argument is “a matter of policy preference, not legal interpretation,” and not substantive. They said Interior is using a broad interpretation of the law to use the funds to pay workers to man the parks to keep areas safe and remove trash, which they say constitutes as a form of maintenance.
Bishop sent a letter to Bernhardt on Thursday thanking him for the meeting. He commended his “decision to use permissible funds from the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act to ensure that Park Service facilities staff required to work during the lapse in appropriations continue to receive their pay.”
Bishop explained that although “policy disagreements” between Interior and some members of Congress will likely continue, “I hope your candid and respectful approach to this matter is appreciated by my colleagues.”
The way Bernhardt is using the funds is well within a “reasonable reading” of the law, said one GOP committee aide.
But Grijalva’s staff said the whole reason they were there was because Interior said it could not email the committee their legal opinion on how they are applying the law. The meeting was meant to view the legal opinion, with no copies leaving the briefing room. They say Bernhardt showing up was completely unexpected and unplanned.
The Democrat’s main point was that the maintenance money was never designed to be a “pot of money” to be used for whatever reason under the agency’s discretion. That money will eventually be drained, said staff.
Grijalva supports the park workers, but “we need to bring all the parks’ services back and get parks open,” said one Democratic aide. The only way to do that is to open the government.
The House will attempt to do just that on Friday morning in bringing the Interior Department’s spending bill to the floor along with bills to fund the Environmental Protection Agency and other related agencies.
Democrats want the GOP to back the measures and open the government rather than spend time on piecemeal measures like the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act that aren’t real solutions, the aide said.
“They are trying to maintain their image of normality, but it’s not tenable,” the aide added.
Bernhardt believes border security and funding the government is “absolutely essential,” said Interior spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort in an email. “Congress should act accordingly to make it happen.”
Under Bernhardt’s leadership, she said, the department and its agencies continue to manage and update shutdown operation plans on a daily basis. “Our employees are a priority in these plans, including getting them paid for doing their work with existing available funds as close to on time as legally possible,” she said.
