Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reportedly spent a whopping $139,000 last year on the construction of a door to his office dubbed the “Secretary’s Door.”
The Associated Press reported the find after reviewing documents it obtained. It reported that a Maryland-based contractor called Conquest Solutions did the job.
A spokeswoman did not confirm whether the work on the door had been completed.
Spokeswoman Heather Swift told AP that Zinke was not aware of the contract for the work and that the project was planned by career facilities and security officials as part of the decade-long modernization of the historic building. The current door from a hallway to Zinke’s office doesn’t lock, so a security upgrade is needed, Swift said.
The contractor is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in building automation systems, energy management, and control equipment. It has worked with government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels for nearly a decade.
The company’s website shows that it is involved in a energy-efficiency project at the Interior Department’s main headquarters building in Washington in collaboration with the energy efficiency company Ameresco.
The report of Zinke’s door comes several weeks after reports that the Department of Housing and Urban Development ordered dining room furniture costing $31,000 for Secretary Ben Carson.
Carson said he would cancel the order, which he said he didn’t know about. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said this month that the panel will probe Carson’s “excessive spending” on the redecoration of his office.
Some of Zinke’s trips also are under scrutiny, as are flights by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Zinke is also under scrutiny for taking a chartered helicopter tour of Nevada monuments last summer.
