Federal watchdog group Protect the Public's Trust is questioning the recent appointment of the Department of the Interior's new deputy secretary.
On June 17, 2021, Tommy Beaudreau was confirmed as the deputy secretary, the number two official, of the Department of the Interior. Prior to joining the agency, Beaudreau worked at a prominent law firm and represented clients in the energy industry, Mother Jones reported.
Mother Jones reported that Beaudreau confirmed working for 35 clients on a financial-disclosure form, and many of those clients were involved in matters before the Department, which could represent potential conflicts of interest.
“As Tommy Beaudreau makes yet another pass through the D.C. revolving door, a number of questions arise,” Protect the Public's Trust Director Michael Chamberlain said in a press release, as reported by Just the News. “The American public rightly demands that high-ranking government officials serve the public interest, not their former clients. With the depth and breadth of Mr. Beaudreau’s entanglements with offshore wind firms, we all have to wonder how he will be able to lead the department’s work while still fulfilling his ethics obligations.”
The Department of Interior is overseeing a massive expansion of offshore wind projects to generate electricity as part of President Joe Biden's administration's 30 x 30 initiative, in which they hope to bring 30 gigawatts of wind capacity online by 2030, according to The Washington Post. It is reviewing proposals from 14 companies and Beaudreau previously represented 10 of those companies.
"With the extent of potential conflicts posed by his former clients in the offshore wind industry, the American public needs to know how he can lead initiatives in the sector while still adhering to federal ethics rules and the Biden Ethics Pledge," Protect the Public's Trust said in the release.
Before Beaudreau's official confirmation to his new position, more than two dozen organizations wrote a letter to members of the Senate to oppose his nomination, Mother Jones reported. They accused Beaudreau of being “too cozy” with industry officials that would undermine the president’s green energy agenda.
The watchdog group also points out that Beaudreau previously served as the department's Chief of Staff during the Obama administration and may have been complacent in allowing a workplace culture of sexual harassment to run unchecked.
"Investigative reports from 2016 show over 60 current and former NPS employees reaching out to tell their stories of harassment," according to Protect the Public Trust. "Numerous other employees came forward from the ranks of the Bureau of Land Management, another agency within Interior that Beaudreau had clear authority over while at the department."
Beaudreau previously worked for law firm Latham & Watkins in January 2017. A 2020 Yale Law School scorecard which analyzed major law firms’ roles in driving climate change gave the firm an F grade, according to Mother Jones.
