The American Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, was confirmed on April 11. Seeing as today is the 16th, that was five days ago. Yesterday? Why, yesterday, he was placed under investigation for ethics violations.
The Interior Department’s internal watchdog has opened an investigation into ethics complaints against the agency’s newly installed secretary, David Bernhardt.
Mr. Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and agribusiness industries, was confirmed by the Senate last week to head the agency, which oversees the nation’s 500 million acres of public land and vast coastal waters. He has played a central role in writing policies designed to advance President Trump’s policy of “energy dominance” and expanding fossil fuel exploration. He has been dogged by allegations of ethics violations since joining the Trump administration as the Interior Department’s deputy secretary in 2017.
Eight senators, all Democrats, and four government ethics watchdog groups have requested that the Interior Department’s inspector general open formal investigations into various aspects of Mr. Bernhardt’s conduct. Among the chief complaints have been allegations, revealed by three separate New York Times investigations, that Mr. Bernhardt used his position to advance a policy pushed by his former lobbying client; that he continued working as a lobbyist after filing legal paperwork declaring that he had ceased lobbying; and that he intervened to block the release of a scientific report showing the harmful effects of a chemical pesticide on certain endangered species. [The New York Times]
The confirmation vote? All the GOP Senators but Perdue of Georgia, who is listed as not voting, voted for confirmation, along with independent Angus King of Maine; no Democrats voted for him.
This is a basic example of the dangers of team politics. An intellectually incompetent and uninformed leader climbs to the top, and the Party discredits itself by following blindly along in his wake, approving his actions without effective regulation of his behavior. Speaking as an independent, bad systemic behaviors such as this is why the GOP is simply becoming harder and harder to take at all seriously. This is no surprise for long time readers.
But it’s worth contemplating. It’s great if a good leader is in place, but when a venal, corrupt guy like Trump gets there, and literally doesn’t understand why nearly every action he takes is wrong, it should – but won’t – discredit the entirely despicable notion of team politics.
