WASHINGTON – The chairman of the House oversight committee is asking the Interior Department to provide details of a federal contract for $139,000 to replace doors in Secretary Ryan Zinke’s office.
Yesterday Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sent a letter asking Zinke to provide information on why the doors needed replacing and how the contract to purchase them was negotiated and awarded. Gowdy asked Zinke to schedule a briefing for the committee no later than April 6.
Last week, Zinke told members of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he re-negotiated the contract for the doors down to roughly $75,000 from $139,000.
“Welcome to the resistance, Chairman Gowdy,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “On behalf of EWG and other environmental and public interest groups, thanks for your interest in holding President Trump’s gang of grifters accountable.”
“Taxpayer dollars flow out of the offices of Zinke and EPA chief Scott Pruitt like water from a firehose," said Cook. “It’s inexcusable that it’s being used to purchase furniture, first class travel and other luxuries instead of on public health and environmental protection.”
###