Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Oversight and Investigations
Ranking Member Grijalva: President Trump Is Hurting Americans By Ignoring Climate Change Findings From His Own Administration
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement today following President Trump's attempt to bury the Fourth Annual Climate Assessment by releasing it the day after Thanksgiving, instead of next month as was expected. "The President's attempts to cover up the real and urgent findings of the most recent Climate Assessment shows that he will do anything to stop the American people from knowing the truth about our changing climate." Grijalva sai… Continue Reading
11.16.18
Ranking Member Grijalva Requests Phone Records of Top Offshore Regulator Scott Angelle, Seeks Explanation for Lack of Transparency
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who is expected to become Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee in the 116th Congress, today sent a letter to Joe Balash, the Department of the Interior (DOI) assistant secretary for land and minerals management, requesting all calls to and from the personal cell phone number of Scott Angelle, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), that occurred from May 23, 2017, through November 12,… Continue Reading
11.14.18
Committee Leaders Announce Series of Climate Hearings Over Two Day Period Early Next Year
Washington, D.C. - As Democrats prepare to take the House Majority in January, three Democratic Committee leaders, whose committees have jurisdiction over climate change, announced today that their committees will hold a series of hearings over a two-day period early next year to assess the effects of climate change and the need for action. The announcement was made by Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) … Continue Reading
11.01.18
Ranking Member Grijalva: DOI Reorganization is Zinke, Bernhardt “Smashing the Department to Pieces and Telling Employees to Pick up the Mess”
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on recent reports that the Trump administration's reorganization of the Interior Department is expected to be complete by July 1, 2019. "Secretary Zinke and Deputy Secretary Bernhardt are smashing the Interior Department to pieces and telling employees to pick up the mess. The organizational plan described here is unworkable for a number of reasons and demands oversight that Republicans on this … Continue Reading
10.31.18
New Democratic Report Details Industry Influence Over Natural Resources Committee Republicans Throughout 115th Congress
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the minority staff of the House Natural Resources Committee released a new report this morning, Unmasked: How The House Natural Resources Committee Tricks Taxpayers and Treats Industry, detailing Committee Republicans' campaign to stack full Committee and subcommittee hearings with industry interests in the 115th Congress. The report shows the many ways in which industry perspectives have heavily skewed the Committee's polic… Continue Reading
10.18.18
Leading Committee Democrats Urge Scrutiny of New Interior Inspector General – Change Could Interfere with Zinke Investigations
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and leading Democratic Committee members sent a letter today to Michael E. Horowitz, chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), raising concerns about the replacement of Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Inspector General (IG) Mary L. Kendall with Suzanne Israel Tufts, a political appointee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This move is particularly… Continue Reading
10.11.18
Ranking Member Grijalva, Leading Committee Democrats Urge Repeal of DOI “Secret Science” Order, Recommitment to Scientific Integrity
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and leading Democratic Committee members sent a letter today to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to rescind a recent Secretarial Order that threatens to further politicize how science is used across the Department of the Interior (DOI). The "Promoting Open Science" Order, issued quietly by Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt on Sept. 28, is just the latest in a long line of Trump administration attacks on scientific integri… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Committee Democrats Examine Republican Record on NEPA as Hispanic Heritage Month Raises Environmental Justice Profile
Washington, D.C. - In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues until Oct. 15, the Natural Resources Committee's Democratic staff on Tuesday published a look back at Republicans' attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), one of our country's strongest environmental justice laws. The multimedia piece, "Harming Communities of Color" is part of the Democrats' ongoing "Wasted Resources" series looking back at the misguided hearings and misplaced priorities of the Committee's R… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Kick Off “Wasted Resources” Series Highlighting GOP Oversight Failures, Misplaced Priorities
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats today launched Wasted Resources, a new multimedia series highlighting the major natural resources policy issues the Republican majority ignored over the course of the 115th Congress and the misguided hearings they chose to hold instead. The series kicks off today by highlighting a Committee hearing on July 13, 2017, featuring Republican witness testimony accusing multiple Nati… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Kick Off “Wasted Resources” Series Highlighting GOP Oversight Failures, Misplaced Priorities
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats today launched Wasted Resources, a new multimedia series highlighting the major natural resources policy issues the Republican majority ignored over the course of the 115th Congress and the misguided hearings they chose to hold instead. The series kicks off today by highlighting a Committee hearing on July 13, 2017, featuring Republican witness testimony accusing multiple Nati… Continue Reading
07.18.18
Grijalva: GOP Just Voted to Protect Secretary Zinke From Accountability by Denying Full Funding for DOI Inspector General
Washington, D.C. - Moments ago the House Republican majority voted down Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) amendment to the Department of the Interior (DOI) funding bill that sought to increase the DOI Office of Inspector General's (OIG) funding by $2.5 million. Grijalva said the vote shows how stubbornly Republicans refuse to hold Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke or the rest of the Trump administration's DOI appointees accountable for their multiple scandals, policy failures and em… Continue Reading
07.05.18
Grijalva: Congressional GOP Owns Pruitt’s Scandals as Much as Trump, Must Conduct Oversight or Public Will Expect More Ripoffs
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on Scott Pruitt's resignation as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. "The sad truth is that Mr. Pruitt is exactly the kind of person President Trump believes should run our government: someone who lies, abuses his office, enriches himself and his family at taxpayer expense and thinks his job is to keep CEOs happy rather than make Americans' lives better. From day one of his shameful ten… Continue Reading
06.27.18
Grijalva, Pallone Highlight Lack of Administration Transparency and Oversight Compliance as Zinke Skates on Threats to Senators
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) today highlighted the Trump administration's total lack of compliance with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the matter of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's reported threats to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) during a 2017 phone conversation based on her vote o… Continue Reading
06.27.18
Ranking Member Grijalva, Team of House Democrats Call on Pruitt to Reissue Canceled Information Request on Methane Emissions
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of fresh evidence that the oil and gas industry's methane emissions are far greater than previously thought, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and four House Democratic colleagues today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt urging him to reinstate a formal Information Collection Request (ICR) to the industry that he canceled in early 2017. The letter comes as a new report in the journal Science found that m… Continue Reading
06.21.18
Citing Internal Emails, Grijalva and Committee Dems Call for Investigation of Zinke Misusing Official Resources for Financial Gain
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and two other top Natural Resources Committee Democrats today sent a letter to the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General requesting an investigation into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's apparent use of official resources for personal financial gain. The letter points to internal DOI emails and a Zinke official schedule, revealed through Freedom of Information Act requests, showing that Zinke met with Monta… Continue Reading
06.12.18
Grijalva: IG Report Proves Trump’s Interior Department Lied About Missing Mountaintop Removal Research Funding
Washington, D.C. - A newly released Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General (OIG) letter responding to a request from Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) shows that DOI, under Secretary Ryan Zinke, has been lying for months about why and how it canceled a study on the human health impacts of mountaintop removal mining, a deadly practice with a long history of causing environmental damage throughout Appalachia. OIG finds that DOI could not explain why it canceled… Continue Reading
06.11.18
In Rare Move, Entire Committee Democratic Caucus Writes to Chairman Bishop Requesting Hearing on Workplace Harassment
Note: This has been updated from its original version to correct a bad link. Washington, D.C. - In a rare move, the entire Democratic caucus of the House Natural Resources Committee wrote to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) today requesting a hearing on sexual harassment and other types of workplace harassment at the Department of the Interior (DOI) and its agencies. Bishop has rejected similar calls from Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation… Continue Reading
06.05.18
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