The White House appears to be replacing the agency watchdog at the Interior Department who is in the midst of two investigations into Secretary Ryan Zinke, drawing criticism from government oversight groups.
In an internal email sent last Friday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced to his staff that after just seven months at the agency, the assistant secretary for administration, Suzanne Israel Tufts, was moving over to the Interior Department to be the acting inspector general. Acting inspectors general do not need Senate confirmation.
But the internal announcement came as news to the Interior Department IG's office, which said in a statement to NBC News, "The Office of Inspector General has received no official communication about any leadership changes." Tufts, a long-time Republican attorney who has worked for multiple New York law firms, would be replacing Deputy Interior Inspector General Mary Kendall.
Kendall has been running the agency's watchdog investigations and audits team of 265 employees for 10 years. Danielle Brian, executive director at the independent government watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, expressed concern over the move.
"We are particularly worried that she's a political appointee without any obvious government oversight experience," Brian said, referring to Tufts. "And they are sliding her in under the radar of any Senate confirmation process to take over charged investigations into the behavior of the cabinet secretary."
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