House Republicans want to compare the travel records of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke with those of the department heads during President Obama’s administration.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, asked Zinke to provide records on the use of private, chartered, rented, and government-owned aircraft by secretaries of the interior dating back to Obama’s first day in office.
Bishop wants to compare non-commercial aircraft use by Obama Interior Secretaries Ken Salazar (2009-2013) and Sally Jewell (2013-2017) to that of Zinke, who is under investigation by the department’s inspector general for using chartered and military planes for official travel that was also mixed with political business.
“When willful violations occur, there should be consequences,” Bishop said. “When partisan opportunists conflate diligent conformance to scandal, no one wins. Let’s get all facts on the table, ensure taxpayers are protected and proceed with the peoples’ business.”
Zinke said the private and military transportation was necessary when commercial flights were unavailable or impractical for the kind of travel required by him.
