Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Oversight and Investigations
Grijalva Highlights GAO Report Showing Unknown Taxpayer Costs for Oil and Gas Operations, Need for Updated Rules
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) highlighted the release this morning of a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that finds the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) cannot accurately account for taxpayer cleanup risks at orphaned onshore oil and gas wells. The report, Bureau of Land Management Needs to Improve Its Data and Oversight of Its Potential Liabilities, finds a striking lack of data tracking across the agency on the public costs of orphaned well… Continue Reading
04.16.18
Dems Urge Republicans to Conduct Meaningful Oversight as Inspector General Finds Sec. Zinke Took Flight for Personal Reasons
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said today that Republicans in Congress need to conduct more careful oversight of Trump administration officials in the wake of a Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG) report finding that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent taxpayer funds on a chartered flight for personal reasons unconnected to his official … Continue Reading
04.12.18
Grijalva Asks DOI to Disclose Political Appointee Vetting Procedures After Racist and Delusional Statements by Interior Officials
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of multiple high-ranking Department of the Interior (DOI) officials making racist, delusional or conspiratorial public statements on social media, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today requesting "a detailed description of the vetting process at DOI for acting and permanent political appointees, including any review of relevant qualifications, background, and ethical considerations." Grijalva's letter, availa… Continue Reading
04.12.18
Grijalva Calls for a Hearing on the Flawed and Poorly Documented DOI Reassignment Process
Washington, D.C. - In response to the Department of the Interior's (DOI) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report finding that recent reassignments of senior, career officials at DOI were carried out, "without a written plan or clear criteria," and that appeared to punish employees that worked on climate change or conservation, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) today to request an oversight hearing to get more answers about the rea… Continue Reading
03.15.18
Secretary Zinke Testified Falsely Today – Said Letter to Chairman Bishop Responded to Rep. Barragan’s Ethics Concerns
Washington, D.C. - Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today falsely claimed, during a public Committee hearing on the Interior Department's fiscal year 2019 budget proposal, that he had already responded to Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán's (D-Calif.) and Rep. Don Beyer's (D-Va.) Oct. 5, 2017, letter requesting information about his taxpayer-funded travel. The letter Zinke held up during the hearing, which he claimed was sent to "the ranking member" and Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) on Oct. 31, 2017… Continue Reading
03.07.18
As Zinke Stumbles Continue, Top Committee Democrats Request Investigation of Potential Campaign Law Violations
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter today to Special Counsel Henry Kerner, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), requesting an investigation of whether Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits electioneering by federal officials at taxpayer expense, when he recently traveled to rural Pennsylvania to announce $… Continue Reading
02.28.18
Leading Dems Urge Funding for Interior Department IG – Demands for Investigations Go Unmet for Lack of Resources
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), ranking member on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, sent a letter to top House appropriators today urging full funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General (OIG), which has referred requests for investigations back to DOI in recent years because of staffing and funding shortfalls. The letter, available at http://bit.ly/2GR9ozY, points out that even as… Continue Reading
02.16.18
Grijalva Questions Interior Department’s Ignorance as Questions Mount on Utah National Monument Foe’s Conflicts of Interest
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke this morning questioning whether the Department of the Interior (DOI) was aware of Utah State Rep. Mike Noel's (R) significant conflicts of interest in touting President Trump's shrinking last year of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. As the Salt Lake Tribune reported earlier this week, Noel - a leading figure in pushing Trump's move and a vocal opponent of federal land … Continue Reading
02.14.18
Ahead of Tomorrow’s Hearing on Managing Federal Lands Along the Border, Grijalva & McEachin Call Out Republicans for Depriving Border Communities of Their Basic Rights
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of tomorrow's 10 a.m. hearing on Republican calls to further degrade environmental protections along the U.S. border with Mexico, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Donald McEachin (D-Va.), are criticizing Congressional Republicans for their efforts to deprive border communities of basic rights in the guise of increasing border security. Republicans are proposing … Continue Reading
02.12.18
Grijalva: We Need to Know Who Directed Trump’s Environmental Budget Cuts, Understand Potential Conflicts of Interest
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today said the Trump budget plan's deep cuts to popular environmental programs and failure to address climate change, despite clear national security warnings from his own top military officials, need to be understood through the lens of the Interior Department's ongoing conflict-of-interest scandals and lack of transparency. Grijalva pointed to regulatory carveouts and industry-slanted budget priorities that strongly suggest lo… Continue Reading
01.29.18
Grijalva Highlights Long List of Republican Attacks on Our Communities’ Health and Environment Ahead of State of the Union
Washington, D.C. - Ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) staff released a year-end report today titled, 2017: A Year of the Resistance to highlight the relentless attacks Republicans in Congress and the administration have made on our country's foundational environmental policies. Republicans have successfully undermined key environmental laws and have introduced new pieces of legislation that put our public lands, waters, clean… Continue Reading
01.25.18
Reps. Grijalva and McEachin in The Hill: New Report Shows That Interior Department’s Anti-Harassment Policies are Lacking
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, write in a new op-ed for The Hill that a new report by the Natural Resources Committee Democrats shows clearly how the Department of the Interior (DOI) and its bureaus can combat their sometimes pervasive sexual harassment problems. The report, #InteriorToo: Addressing sexual harassment across the Department of the Interior sta… Continue Reading
01.10.18
Grijalva Asks Interior Inspector General to Examine Stopped National Academies Studies, Locate Missing Public Funds
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Interior Department Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall today requesting an investigation of the Trump administration's halting of two major studies at the National Academies of Sciences (NAS). The public rationales for the stop-work orders do not stand up to scrutiny and suggest political motives, Grijalva writes. In August 2017, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) halted work on… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Grijalva Rejects Clovis Excuse for USDA Withdrawal, Calls on Senate to Show Independence and Respect for Government
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today on the news that science and climate change denier Sam Clovis withdrew his name from consideration to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientist due to his involvement in the Trump campaign's Russia investigation. "Everyone knows Mr. Clovis withdrew because he's up to his neck in the Trump-Russia scandal, not because of the 'political climate in Washington.' President Trump ne… Continue Reading
10.24.17
Ranking Member Grijalva Statement on Committee Democrats’ Meeting With Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today on Committee Democrats' meeting this afternoon with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "It's not clear to me why this meeting needed to be shrouded in secrecy. The Interior Department under this administration has been characterized by a troubling lack of transparency and a strange tendency to treat the Interior Department like it's the Pentagon. Democrats wanted to talk about things like Secr… Continue Reading
10.13.17
Grijalva, McEachin: Fixing National Park Service Sexual Harassment Means Changing the Culture – and Congress Needs to Step Up
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin - the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee who requested a congressional hearing on sexual harassment at the National Park Service (NPS) in June - released the following statement on today's NPS survey in which 38 percent of employees report experiencing some form of sexual harassment. "Dumping this news on a Friday afternoon, without any clear next steps, suggests this admini… Continue Reading
09.29.17
Grijalva: Zinke Proves This Administration Preaches Service Cuts for Taxpayers While They Blow Your Money on Easy Living
Washington, D.C. - In response to the recent Washington Post story revealing that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his staff chartered a flight from Las Vegas to Zinke's home state of Montana on a private plane owned by oil and gas executives, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) pointed out that the Trump administration preaches service cuts to the American people while it blows hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on high-end travel.… Continue Reading
03.28.17
Republicans Bring Extinct Talking Points Back from the Dead in Zombie ESA Hearing
Washington, D.C. - In their latest attempt to manufacture opposition to popular and effective environmental laws, House Republicans are holding a hearing at 10 a.m. today to attack the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and wrongfully blame the Act for delaying development and infrastructure projects. Republican witnesses are expected to resurrect claims that were debunked long ago, such as the myth that ESA consultation caused the catastrophic levee failure along California's Feather River in 1997, a… Continue Reading
02.07.17
As GOP Votes Down Transparency Rule at Another Committee, Leading Dems Highlight Need to Expose Trump-Style Conflicts of Interest
Note: The headline of this press release has been slightly changed from its original version to reduce confusion. The qutoe from Rep. Bennie Thompson was added to the online version and was not included in the initial release. Washington, D.C. - The Republican majority on the House Committee on Natural Resources just voted down a Democratic proposal to require that hearing witnesses working for the Trump administration disclose financial conflicts of interest before appearing to testify, contin… Continue Reading
04.06.16
Grijalva Statement on Hearing to Address Debt Crisis in Puerto Rico
Tucson, Ariz. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on Chairman Rob Bishop's (R-Utah) announcement that a hearing on a draft Puerto Rico debt restructuring bill will be held on April 13, followed by a markup on April 14. An earlier version of a draft bill was released last week by Natural Resources Committee Republicans. "Everyone is working hard and in good faith on the Puerto Rico bill, and it's still a work in progress," Grijalva said. "I look fo… Continue Reading