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Trump Political Appointee to Serve as Acting Inspector General at Interior Department

The assistant Housing and Urban Development secretary will be detailed to the IG's office at the Interior Department.

A Trump political appointee at the Department of Housing and Urban Development will soon serve as the acting inspector general at the Department of the Interior, The Hill reports. Suzanne Israel Tufts will reportedly take over as the Interior Department's acting IG after leaving her post as assistant HUD secretary, according to an email from HUD Secretary Ben Carson obtained by the website. An HUD spokesperson told The Hill that Tufts will remain a HUD employee while temporarily detailed to the IG role, reportedly adding that a move like that “happens” all the time. An IG official told the website that it is “very uncommon” for a political appointee to be detailed to another agency, particularly an Inspector General’s office—which has the power to start investigations within an agency or end ongoing probes. Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke currently faces numerous IG investigations, including one into a business deal he made with the chairman of Halliburton.

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