Will Ryan Zinke Be The First Trump Cabinet Member Impeached?

Each of the executive departments has its own inspector general whose job is to keep the department from breaking any laws or straying too far into blatant corruption. And, believe me, with the Teapot Dome scandal on 1921-- which saw Interior Secretary Albert Fall imprisoned for taking bribes (first Cabinet member ever to go to jail for misconduct in office)-- always hanging over the head of the Interior Department, there has always-- at least post-Teapot Dome-- been a very active office of the inspector general there. It acts as an auditor of the department's operations, ensuring they're operating in compliance with generally established policies, as well as looking out for the possibility of misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity by individuals or groups related to the agency.

It probably won't surprise you to know that Señor Trumpanzee hasn't been especially diligent about appointing inspectors general. The Interior Department doesn't have one. Right now the office is headed by Mary Kendall, the Deputy Inspector General. She was an attorney at the EPA for much of her career and was appointed Deputy Inspector General at the Department of the Interior in 1999. Trumpanzee hasn't bothered to fire her yet despite her sterling and fierce reputation for honesty and integrity. Trump appointed a crooked political hack, Ryan Zinke, as the Secretary of the Interior and, predictably, he's already gotten himself into trouble-- attempting to pressure Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowsky and Dan Sullivan to vote for TrumpCare.

"Pressure?" Oh, yes. Zinc threatened to cut off significant funding to the state of Alaska if they didn't fall in line. Sullivan, who did vote for TrumpCare, informed the media. Murkowsky told Zinke and Trumpet go to hell and voted against it, killing the bill. Frank Pallone and Raul Grijalva, ranking members, respectively of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee requested that Kendell investigate Zinke's threats. Here's the letter she sent in response, confirming the investigation is under way:

Care2.com reported last week that "The Department of the Interior is heavily involved in the decision-making process for activities like granting oil and gas permits, reviewing mineral rights and using other natural resources on both federal and tribal lands. In Alaska, a state that relies heavily on resource extraction, a good relationship with the department is critical-- failure to gain approval from Interior could snarl major projects, including those bringing key jobs and other economic growth to remote communities... Zinke suggested that the state might come to regret the decision, in a veiled threat."

Sullivan and Murkowski both evidently received calls from Zinke with warnings about the state’s energy future, though they didn’t go into lengthy detail.

In addition to concerns about pending and future projects, the state is also worried about potential Interior Department appointments for people from Alaska. The positions can represent important jobs, as well as opportunities to help shape federal land use policy. And being shut out of these opportunities would leave the state at a disadvantage.

The Department of the Interior’s Inspector General’s Office just announced that it will be looking into reports of the threat. Internal investigations of this nature are important for the integrity of federal agencies.

If their investigation turns up evidence to support the concerns raised by people on both sides of the aisle, it would certainly cast a negative light on the Department of the Interior’s ethics. Many federal agencies are in a position to have tremendous influence over the social and economic well-being of individual states, and evidence of threats to states over individual votes is very troubling.

It could also raise some questions about whether ethically questionable activities could govern which projects are and aren’t approved at the agency.

While the Department of the Interior hasn’t responded to questions for comment, Zinke seems eager to smooth over rumor. He even posted a photograph of himself drinking beer with Senator Murkowski, calling them “friends,” as the news about the threats broke.

Murkowski’s office has also remained fairly tight-lipped about what happened during the call, playing down some of the allegations surrounding what Zinke said and how seriously she and her fellow senator took it.

Murkowski, notably, is quite popular in Alaska, and the concern driving her vote was with the speed of the legislation, not necessarily the content. The senator said she wasn’t pleased at how quickly it was moving, as the high speed left little time for thoughtfully considered hearings and opportunities to discuss the full ramifications of the legislation. Murkowski was also concerned by reports from her constituents, who worried that the Republican bill as presented might make it difficult to afford health care.