Congressmen raise ethics complaints over Biden water policy
- July 20, 2021
Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E News
Top Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee today accused a top Biden administration Interior official of running afoul of ethics rules when he reversed a Trump-era policy on California water.
Ranking member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, questioned Interior Deputy Solicitor of Water Resources Daniel Cordalis’ role in overturning a memo signed by former Secretary David Bernhardt the day before President Biden took office.
Cordalis “leveraged his position as a political appointee to overrule a January 14, 2021 legal policy penned by nonpolitical career officials related to requirements under the [Central Valley Project Improvement Act],” Westerman and Gosar wrote in a letter to Interior ethics official Heather Gottry.