House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy wants to get to the bottom of the reported $139,000 door for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s office.
“The committee is aware of numerous reports about the need for replacement doors at the department and allegations of excess cost,” the South Carolina Republican wrote in a letter to Zinke sent Thursday.
Gowdy wants a briefing no later than two weeks from Friday to go over the details of the pricey door.
Zinke recently told House appropriators that he successfully negotiated the price down to $75,000. The $139,000 was disclosed in a contract signed in September.
The door is part of a growing line of expensive items that Trump administration officials have purchased in the last year.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Tuesday defended his purchase of a $31,000 dining set, which he said was necessary for safety reasons.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt spent $25,000 to build a sound-proof booth, not to mention tens of thousands of dollars in first-class travel being investigated by Gowdy. For example, Pruitt spent more than $80,000 on a trip to Italy, including $30,000 on security, for official business.
Zinke took a security detail with him and his wife on a vacation to Turkey and Greece last summer on the taxpayers’ dime.
The reports are bringing Zinke unwelcome attention by groups who would like to see nothing less than his resignation. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign last year after a similar travel scandal.
The Environmental Working Group put out a statement that welcomed Gowdy to the “resistance.”
“On behalf of EWG and other environmental and public interest groups, thanks for your interest in holding President Trump’s gang of grifters accountable,” said Ken Cook, the environmental group’s president.
“Taxpayer dollars flow out of the offices of Zinke and EPA chief Scott Pruitt like water from a firehose,” Cook said. “It’s inexcusable that it’s being used to purchase furniture, first-class travel and other luxuries instead of on public health and environmental protection.”
