Top Natural Resources Committee Democrats Question Independence of Trump’s Interior Watchdog Pick, Order Him to Preserve Records Amid Shredding Reports

Top Natural Resources Committee Democrats Question Independence of Trump's Interior Watchdog Pick, Order Him to Preserve Records Amid Shredding Reports

Lawmakers warn Dennis Kirk's partisan record threatens the independence of Interior's Inspector General as the office weighs at least four major corruption investigations

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Democratic leaders sent a letter to Dennis Kirk, President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General, instructing him to preserve all federal records and demanding answers about potential document destruction inside the department that may have already happened.

The letter was signed by Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Federal Lands Ranking Member Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee Ranking Member Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.).

"Your nomination arrives at a time when the OIG has been asked to investigate multiple credible and well-evidenced allegations of corruption," the lawmakers wrote. "But your heavily partisan record and lack of relevant experience raise questions about the potential impact of your tenure on the otherwise nonpartisan watchdog inside the Department of the Interior. Reports that officials at DOI have engaged in a pattern of records destruction increase the urgency of this matter."

The lawmakers pointed to Kirk's co-authorship of a chapter of Project 2025 and his record at the Intelligence Community Inspector General, where he appears to have served in a partisan role reporting to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during the office's investigation into Signalgate. His nomination follows President Trump's firing of over 21 inspectors general across the federal government shortly after taking office.

"An Inspector General whose loyalty to the President takes precedence over the mission of the offices of the inspectors general poses a threat to that independence," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter lists at least four consequential investigations launched by Congressional Democrats the OIG is undertaking into high-ranking administration officials, including allegations of family favoritism and ethics violations against Dr. Jenifer Chatfield, a $3.5 million family windfall tied to a lithium mine approved with help from Karen Budd-Falen's office, potential ethics violations by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management head Matt Giacona, and a Senate request to investigate what Interior officials knew about engineering failures at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The lawmakers also cited reporting that Interior officials have routinely shredded official documents and used disappearing Signal messages to avoid preserving communications as required by the Federal Records Act (FRA).

"Destruction of federal records implies there is something to hide," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter closes, "Since arriving at the OIG, if you have engaged in document destruction of any kind, including shredding, the use of unauthorized messaging, automatic message deletion settings, or personal email for official business, this letter serves an instruction to stop. You are expected to maintain full compliance with the FRA."

Read the full request to Dennis Kirk here.

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