Congressmen continue campaign against top Haaland aide
- June 3, 2021
Emma Dumain, E&E News
The Biden administration pulled Elizabeth Klein’s nomination to be deputy Interior secretary months ago amid controversy, but congressional Republicans are still targeting her for her past positions and advocacy.
This morning, three Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee wrote to Klein, now a senior counselor to Secretary Deb Haaland at Interior, and Heather Gottry, the designated ethics official at the agency, demanding the release of the list of agencies, individuals and issues on which Klein has agreed to recuse herself in official dealings.
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“In light of the Biden Ethics Pledge’s ‘Revolving Door Ban’ it is difficult to reconcile Ms. Klein’s involvement with any of the more than 130 matters or the one-third of U.S. states the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center involved itself with during her tenure,” said Michael Chamberlain, the group’s director.
“The absence of a publicly available ethics waiver for Ms. Klein as well as the Department’s unwillingness to provide her recusal documents raise serious red flags,” he said.