Interior Secretary Deb Haaland faced inquiries from Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) during a May 2 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about undisclosed meetings between Department of the Interior (DOI) officials and the Wilderness Society concerning the Twin Metals critical minerals project. The Functional Government Initiative (FGI) released documents suggesting that DOI officials met secretly with the environmental group, which was also suing to stop the project.
The documents, including emails, indicate DOI officials were aware of potential legal challenges in arranging these meetings, which were not listed on then Deputy Secretary Beaurdeau’s official calendar. Following these meetings, the DOI canceled the Twin Metals mining project in January 2022.
During the hearing, Senator Hawley pressed Secretary Haaland for explanations regarding the undisclosed meetings and the DOI’s engagements with environmental groups. Secretary Haaland did not provide detailed responses to these inquiries.
Peter McGinnis, spokesman for FGI, noted that the documents they obtained were instrumental in sparking further scrutiny of the DOI’s decisions. “Senator Hawley made use of records obtained by the Functional Government Initiative on one of DOI’s most harmful decisions on critical minerals in the country,” said McGinnis.
According to McGinnis, the House Committee on Natural Resources has opened an investigation into the DOI’s actions regarding the project, reflecting concerns about the United States’ dependence on foreign critical minerals necessary for technology and energy initiatives.
