Biden admin gives major promotion to official who failed Senate confirmation over climate activism
- October 31, 2023
Thomas Catenacci, Fox News
The Biden administration handed out a major promotion to a Department of the Interior (DOI) official whose nomination for a lower position at the agency floundered after she pushed climate policies.
In addition, watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) filed an ethics complaint in 2022 accusing Daniel-Davis of violating federal conflict of interest regulations and the Biden administration’s ethics pledge over her activity related to oil and gas leasing in Alaska.
The complaint alleged that Daniel-Davis’ prior role as the chief of policy and advocacy at NWF influenced her decision to implement the DOI’s oil and gas leasing pause in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the northern region of Alaska. The NWF joined an August 2020 lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to award the ANWR leases while Daniel-Davis was still with the group.
“This latest move tells you all you need to know about the priorities of Secretary Haaland and the Department of the Interior,” PPT Director Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
“Rewarding someone unable to achieve confirmation by the Senate, who is also under the cloud of a current ethics complaint no less, with a promotion to an even higher position, seems like a slap in the face to the American public, its elected representatives, and the Constitution,” he added. “Members of Congress are already demanding an audit of the ethics office at Interior and rather than treading lightly they appear to be doubling down.”