Tag: Department of the Interior

And you thought Coloradans just used emoluments to deal with the harsh, dry weather. In an attempt to keep things constitutional, Congress on Wednesday cut the pay -- and emoluments, or compensation and perquisites -- for the secretary of the interior back to the 2005 level so presumptive nominee Sen. Ken Salazar won't run afoul of an obscure constitutional provision. Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution forbids a member of Congress from taking a federal job after having voted to increase the job's pay, so Congress routinely bumps back the pay.

Even as Republican state lawmakers gear up to make Colorado a more oil-shale-friendly business climate, a group of national and regional environmental groups Tuesday announced their intent to sue the BLM over so-called “midnight” leasing regulations pushed through by the Bush administration.

It's no 'Bridge to Nowhere" but budget hawks may need a cold shower after the Washington Post reported that Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne renovated his private office bathroom to the tune of $235,000 courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. Talk about trickle down economics.

I am deeply troubled by many of the president-elect's choices for his Cabinet. We've got an anti-family-farm, pro-Monsanto guy going to Agriculture, an inexperienced Republican hack going to Transportation and now Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to Interior. These are not the changes we need.

On Wednesday morning, President-elect Obama announced that Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar will lead the Department of Interior in the new administration.

Sen. Ken Salazar's Western attire probably came as no surprise to home-state watchers when he appeared in Chicago Wednesday to accept President-elect Barack Obama's nod as secretary of Interior, but East Coast media bigwigs have been wrestling with the fourth-generation Coloradan's appearance — complete with bolo tie! — all afternoon.

As expected, President-elect Barack Obama made it official Wednesday morning in Chicago: Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar is his choice to be the next secretary of the interior. At the same press conference, Obama announced former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will be his nominee for secretary of agriculture — an appointment rumored as recently as last week to belong to Salazar's brother, Rep. John Salazar. The two are "guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depend," Obama said in his introductory remarks.

Contrary to media reports that Sen. Ken Salazar — who’s expected to be nominated today for Secretary of the Interior — is a friend to industry and a foe to the environmental movement in the West, some Colorado conservationists say he’s the right man for the job.

President-elect Barack Obama will name his secretary of interior at a press conference in Chicago at 10:45 a.m. CST Wednesday, his transition team announced. It has been widely reported that Democratic U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado will be the nominee. At the same press conference, Obama is expected to name former Democratic Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture, NBC first reported Tuesday afternoon.

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar has accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama's administration to serve as the secretary of the interior, the Denver Post is reporting Monday evening. "It's a done deal," a Democratic source told the Rocky Mountain News, adding that it was a difficult decision for the first-term Democratic senator to give up his seat. An announcement is expected within 48 hours, sources told the Rocky.