Interior sued over temporary appointments of top officials

Environmentalists on Monday sued the Interior Department over its temporary appointments of top officials to positions that typically require a Senate confirmation. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Western Watersheds Project objected to the continued appointments of the acting leaders of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Park Service (NPS). The groups argue that the repeated tenure extensions of William Perry Pendley and David Vela are unconstitutional and claim that neither is qualified to lead their respective agency. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt last week extended the tenures of Pendley and Vela by one month. Pendley was first appointed in July and Vela was first appointed in September. The May 5 order that prolonged their tenures stated that their appointments are to “vacant non-career positions during the Presidential transition pending Senate-confirmation of new non-career officials.” The lawsuit, however, states that the presidential transition “is long past” and notes that “there are no nominees pending for Senate confirmation for either the BLM or NPS Director.”...MORE