The Interior Department failed to follow federal law by letting senior officials who lack Senate confirmation serve in “acting” roles, according to a nonprofit watchdog group.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) sent a letter Friday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, accusing four senior Trump administration officials of serving with improper titles.
Those four officials are Michael Boren, principal deputy assistant secretary for policy, management and budget; Kevin Lilly, principal deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks; Bill Groffy, principal deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); and Mathew Giacona, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
An Oct. 1 secretarial order from Burgum gave a number of officials authority to act on his behalf, but PEER said the four named officials have recently identified themselves as “acting” heads of their offices, which is a legally distinct position.
