Huffman, Dexter Demand Records on Interior Official’s Conflicts of Interest
Washington, D.C. – Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) are demanding answers from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about Tyler Hassen, the outgoing Principal Deputy Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget, citing his sweeping powers at the Department of the Interior and deep ties to industries he regulated.
In their letter, Huffman and Dexter detail how Hassen “reviews ‘every single contract, every single grant’ at the Department, demand[ed] access to sensitive payroll and personnel data, attempt[ed] to terminate an associate Department solicitor for raising concerns, and fil[ed] notices in the Federal Register to extend the Department’s freeze on regulations, including those affecting fossil fuel company activities on Federal land.”
They warned that Hassen “took these and other significant actions without submitting public financial disclosures or going through the Senate confirmation process, depriving Congress and the public of the transparency and accountability that are fundamental to the integrity of federal decision-making.” They added: “Public service is a public trust: federal employees are required [to] place loyalty to the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles above private gain.”
The lawmakers highlighted Hassen’s “substantial energy-related financial interests,” including a stake in a company seeking federal approval to expand a lithium mine, and flagged that his Certificate of Divestiture “was uploaded on July 12, 2025, just three weeks before his reportedly anticipated departure.”
“Given Mr. Hassen’s significant role in ‘reorganizing’ the Department, indiscriminately purging employees, and making critical funding decisions, information regarding his financial disclosure, ethics agreement, and any conflicts of interest are important for ensuring the actions he takes benefit the American people rather than his own financial interests and should be made public,” the letter stated.
Huffman and Dexter requested the following by September 16, 2025:
- All of Hassen’s financial disclosures, ethics agreements, and related remedial actions;
- Documents describing his positions and duties;
- His Certificate of Divestiture OGE-2025-150;
- Communications with the Departmental Ethics Office;
- His calendar and daily schedule from January 20 to August 28; and
- Other records showing meetings involving him.
The letter underscores that “Mr. Hassen’s financial entanglements are consistent with many others across the administration” and that his actions “have instead done little more than undermine the systems and staff responsible for protecting the public interest from the oil and gas industry.”
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