Amid confusion, Interior Department says HUD official is not taking over as agency watchdog

After a flurry of criticism from government watchdogs, and questions from Capitol Hill, the Interior Department on Thursday walked back reports that a Trump political appointee working in the Department of Housing and Urban Development was set to take over as the head inspector general.

The episode started last Friday when HUD Secretary Ben Carson sent an email to his agency bidding a “fond farewell” to Assistant Secretary Suzanne Israel Tufts who he said would be the new “acting Inspector General” at the Interior Department.

The email was quickly leaked and raised alarm bells among those who view inspectors general as impartial, non-political investigators of government waste, fraud and abuse. Carson’s announcement came amid at least two inspector general investigations into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Tufts is an attorney from New York who Trump appointed to be an Assistant Secretary at HUD. Her resume touts her work as a poll watcher for the Trump campaign on Election Day in 2016, as well as her work at Trump campaign events.

News of Tufts’ new role broke on Tuesday and alarmed a group of inspectors general who were meeting on Wednesday at an awards ceremony in downtown Washington. One official who attended the event said it was “astonishing” to move to replace an inspector general with a political appointee who lacked government oversight experience.

Some 48 hours after the story broke, the Interior Department responded to a flurry of inquiries.

Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift wrote in an email to reporters that Tufts was sent to Interior by the White House “as a potential candidate for a position in the Inspector General’s office,” but “not offered a job.”

Swift went on to throw Carson and his staff under the bus, saying, “HUD sent out an email that had false information in it.”

The HUD press office, which confirmed the original Carson email, has not responded to requests for comment.

But the backtrack has not served to tamp down questions from Capitol Hill.

“If the Interior Department’s explanation is that Secretary Carson doesn’t know what his own staff are doing, they should explain whether Ms. Tufts is needed at HUD or not,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee. “What is her job there? Either way, nobody is buying this explanation and we’re not going to stop pressing for answers.”

Amid the confusion, Mary Kendall, the current Interior Department inspector general, has not received any notification of leadership changes and is continuing her investigations of Zinke.

Meanwhile, Suzanne Tufts is still listed on the online HUD directory. A call to her office today went straight to an outgoing voicemail message from Suzanne Tufts.