The Interior Department's top offshore drilling officials met this morning with lawmakers from Louisiana to discuss the agency's planning and permitting in the Gulf of Mexico and other issues involving its recent reorganization.

But the meeting in New Orleans did not include officers in charge of the agency's planning and permitting decisions, a move to insulate them from political pressure, Interior said.

The meeting between Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich, Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) comes roughly a month after Landry made a surprise visit to Interior's New Orleans office asking to meet with staff to address a constituent's concern that Justice Department officials were "looking over the shoulders of permitting engineers."

After being turned away, Landry accused the agency of acting "like the CIA and Gestapo," a charge that drew strong condemnation from Bromwich, who postponed a previously scheduled meeting between the two on Sept. 30. In a Sept. 19 letter, Bromwich also questioned whether Landry's attempted intervention on behalf of a constituent was consistent with ethics rules.

"Our career staff should not be placed in positions where they may feel they are being subjected to political influence, especially in connection with decisions on specific regulatory matters," Bromwich said today in a statement following the meeting. "That is why I insisted that I be present for any meeting between elected officials and our career staff."

The meeting also included Gulf regional team leaders from BSEE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees leasing and exploration plans.

Landry boarded a plane shortly after the meeting and was unavailable for comment. Mule Millard, his spokesman, said the meeting followed the itinerary Landry set a week ago, which included an overview of new agency functions in the Gulf, industry contacts for permits and structure removals and new safety regulations, among other things (E&ENews PM, Oct. 6).

Media were not allowed at the meeting.