Congress pumps brakes on Interior push to relocate Bureau of Land Management

The Interior Department says it is moving ahead with plans to relocate a Washington-based agency to Colorado after getting the green light from Congress, but lawmakers say no such approval has been granted. The Department of the Interior is preparing to move 27 top officials at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to new headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo., while scattering other D.C.-based employees to existing offices out West. The House Appropriations Committee was given 30 days to submit questions to Interior about the move and the reallocation of $5 million to cover related costs. Lawmakers had a number of questions: What are the benefits to Interior and the American public? What problem will this solve? Why was BLM singled out for this move? The 30-day period ended on Aug. 15, and Interior says it will now proceed with plans to move about 300 employees to Western states after answering all questions from lawmakers. But some lawmakers beg to differ. “The administration’s characterization of Congress having ‘blessed’ BLM’s relocation plan is false,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Interior Department, said in a statement to The Hill. “Interior’s initial relocation plan was significantly lacking in the details necessary for the Committee to evaluate this proposal. That’s why Congress, in a bipartisan and bicameral manner, requested more information — to ensure the transparency and accountability of the administration’s actions,” she added. "Now that the Department of the Interior has met its commitment to provide Congress with an opportunity to review its reorganization plan for the Bureau of Land Management, we look forward to moving ahead with a thoughtfully considered and carefully developed plan that will place the BLM's leadership closer to the lands and resources they manage,” an Interior spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. "We have answered every single question asked by the Committee. No additional follow up questions were received," the agency said...MORE