Zinke’s temporary filling of political positions ‘remains murky,’ says public employees group

Months after filing a complaint about the Interior Department’s practice of filling top political positions with non-career, temporary acting officials, a nonprofit representing federal and state employees says the legal authority of those appointees “remains murky.” In February, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility urged Interior’s Office of the Inspector General to look into what it considered “blatant violations” of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. More specifically, PEER took issue with the agency’s appointment of Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Greg Sheehan, National Park Service acting Director Daniel Smith and the Bureau of Land Management’s Deputy Director for Policy and Programs Brian Steed. A BLM bio identified Steed as “exercising authority of the director,” and an FWS bio said Sheehan “will serve as the Acting Director” until the Senate confirms President Donald Trump’s permanent pick for the job. These acting officials are intended to only serve on a temporary basis, but Trump has yet to nominate anyone to serve as the permanent director for FWS or BLM. In August, Trump named Raymond David Vela as his choice for the National Park Service director. “If they want to appoint acting directors, it requires them to go through some careful procedures, and in fact, the acting position has to be appointed by the president, not the secretary of the Interior,” PEER Senior Counsel Peter Jenkins said in an interview Friday...MORE