Ranking Members Huffman and Heinrich Lead Call for Investigation into Trump Admin's Plan to Merge Offshore Energy Agencies

Ranking Members Huffman and Heinrich Lead Call for Investigation into Trump Admin's Plan to Merge Offshore Energy Agencies

Lawmakers warn the proposed Marine Minerals Administration could weaken independent safety oversight established after Deepwater Horizon and leave workers, communities, and taxpayers more vulnerable to another preventable disaster

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), urging the agency to investigate whether a proposed agency consolidation within the Department of the Interior (DOI) would undermine the independent offshore safety oversight Congress established after Deepwater Horizon and leave workers, communities, and taxpayers at greater risk.

The letter follows an announcement from the Trump administration in April that DOI is consolidating the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (OEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to create the new Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), while proposing draconian cuts to the Interior in its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget request.

"The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster was one of the worst environmental catastrophes in our nation's history, killing 11 workers and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico... In response, in October 2011, the Department of the Interior dissolved MMS and established the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to separate offshore leasing and resource development responsibilities from independent safety and environmental enforcement functions. The reorganization was intended to address the very regulatory failures that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon disaster by ensuring that offshore safety and environmental protection would not be subordinated to industry pressure or revenue generation," the lawmakers began.

"Sixteen years later, offshore oil and gas development has only increased. U.S. oil production remains near record highs, with approximately 95 percent of offshore production now occurring in deepwater environments that present substantially greater technical, operational, and environmental risks... At the same time, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are aggressively pursuing expanded offshore leasing, opening additional areas to drilling, and reducing royalty rates that shortchange taxpayers while incentivizing further fossil fuel extraction," the lawmakers continued.
"Interior's April 2026 announcement that it intends to reconsolidate BOEM and BSEE into a new Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) raises serious concerns about whether Interior is collapsing the firewall between resource development and independent safety oversight that was established after Deepwater Horizon," the lawmakers noted. "These concerns are compounded by the fact that Interior is pursuing this reorganization amid significant workforce reductions, including staffing losses resulting from the 2025 Deferred Resignation Program and additional proposed cuts in the fiscal year 2027 budget request. The Department is simultaneously expanding the scope of its responsibilities to include offshore critical minerals leasing and other new activities."

The lawmakers concluded the letter by requesting GAO to investigate the creation of the new Marine Minerals Administration, and the steps that the Trump administration is taking to ensure that the agency can properly oversee deep-sea mining efforts to prevent another disaster like Deepwater Horizon.

The letter, led by Huffman in the U.S. House of Representatives and Heinrich in the U.S. Senate, is also signed by U.S. Representative Luz Rivas (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

Read the full letter here and below:

Dear Ms. Brown,

The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster was one of the worst environmental catastrophes in our nation's history, killing 11 workers and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the aftermath of the spill, multiple investigations identified regulatory failures and deeply entrenched ethical issues and conflicts of interest within the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), which simultaneously prompted offshore development, collected royalties, and conducted oversight. In response, in October 2011, the Department of the Interior (Interior) dissolved MMS and established the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to separate offshore leasing and resource development responsibilities from independent safety and environmental enforcement functions. The reorganization was intended to address the very regulatory failures that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon disaster by ensuring that offshore safety and environmental protection would not be subordinated to industry pressure or revenue generation.

Sixteen years later, offshore oil and gas development has only increased. U.S. oil production remains near record highs, with approximately 95 percent of offshore production now occurring in deepwater environments that present substantially greater technical, operational, and environmental risks. New frontier projects, including the recently approved Kaskida development, are pushing into ultra-deepwater conditions characterized by extreme pressures, temperatures, and operational complexity. At the same time, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are aggressively pursuing expanded offshore leasing, opening additional areas to drilling, and reducing royalty rates that shortchange taxpayers while incentivizing further fossil fuel extraction. Interior has also expanded its focus on cataloging offshore critical mineral deposits in anticipation of future seabed mining activities that carry poorly understood, but likely significant, environmental risks.

Against this backdrop, Interior's April 2026 announcement that it intends to reconsolidate BOEM and BSEE into a new Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) raises serious concerns about whether Interior is collapsing the firewall between resource development and independent safety oversight that was established after Deepwater Horizon. Interior has asserted that the reorganization will improve coordination, but the Department has provided little detail explaining how combining these functions would strengthen independent environmental review and safety enforcement, particularly at a time when offshore development activities are becoming increasingly complex and risky.

These concerns are compounded by the fact that Interior is pursuing this reorganization amid significant workforce reductions, including staffing losses resulting from the 2025 Deferred Resignation Program and additional proposed cuts in the fiscal year 2027 budget request. The Department is simultaneously expanding the scope of its responsibilities to include offshore critical minerals leasing and other new activities. Together, these developments raise significant questions about whether the proposed consolidation would undermine the independent oversight and institutional capacity necessary to protect offshore workers, coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and taxpayers from another preventable disaster.
To help Congress better understand the potential implications of establishing MMA, we request that GAO examine the following:

1. To what extent has Interior defined specific, measurable objectives that support its broader goals for reconsolidating BOEM and BSEE into MMA?
2. To what extent has Interior engaged in transition planning to ensure that MMA meets its specific objectives while also maintaining the resources needed to maintain the oversight functions currently managed by BOEM and BSEE?
3. To what extent has the agency taken steps to ensure it will have the needed resources and capacity, including the scientific expertise, for effective oversight of the development of the nation's offshore energy and marine mineral resources?
4. To what extent did Interior take steps to ensure that the new agency's processes and decision-making-including as they pertain to permitting-will be based on sound science that is independent of undue outside influence?
5. What steps did Interior take to ensure the new agency has developed a framework for consultation and stakeholder engagement, specifically, on the agency's expanded scope of authorities for offshore minerals leasing? How will MMA's processes uphold Tribal trust responsibilities and states' authorities for consistency review under the Coastal Zone Management Act?

Sincerely,

Watch Ranking Member Huffman discuss the report's findings.

"Donald Trump's hijacking of America's 250th birthday will go down as one of the most corrupt, brazen abuses of public trust in presidential history, even by the dubious standards of this administration. As our country prepared to celebrate a milestone that belongs to every American, Trump and his operatives launched a hostile takeover of the bipartisan commission established by Congress to lead the celebration. When that failed, they sidelined the commission, siphoned its resources, and infiltrated a beloved national charity under cover of a shadow corporation that shielded them from public scrutiny. Then they proceeded to deceive donors, solicit foreign money, sell access to the President, award no-bid contracts to Trump loyalists, harvest Americans' personal data, and push a white-washed, Christian nationalist version of history," said Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif).

"But they didn't account for us. Over the past year, our investigation has pursued the truth about the machinations, schemes and abuses of trust they've tried to hide. We've uncovered extensive evidence of corruption, self-enrichmentand potential crimes. The Republican majority in Congress, which has far more investigative tools and power than we do, could have joined us in conducting serious oversight and demanding answers. Instead, they've used their power to shield the individuals and entities involved.

"The American people deserve to know the truth about how the official national celebration of our country's 250th anniversary was stolen, along with a large - and so far unaccounted for - sum of their taxpayer dollars. So, today - against the obstruction and resistance of our Republican colleagues - we are dragging this fiasco out of the shadows and shining a bright light on the corruption and fraud surrounding Freedom 250. We can't stop from tarnishing the country's July 4th celebration, but we can stop it from ever happening again - we can protect the next government program, the next fund, the next thing that's supposed to work for all of us, from being exploited and misused this way. That's why we must confront this grift and corruption now. From our earliest days, America has stood for government by the people, not powerful tyrants. We will fight to keep it that way."

When the nonpartisan, congressionally chartered America250 Commission refused to bend to the President's demands, the White House built a replacement - Freedom 250 LLC - and declared it the central platform for the national celebration. The White House lodged this shadow organization inside the National Park Foundation so it could exploit the credibility and donor relationships of a beloved public charity while operating outside the transparency rules Congress wrote into law for the commission.

Key Findings

• The President put himself at the center of the nation's birthday. Trump issued an executive order making himself and the Vice President Chair and Vice Chair of a White House task force, then staged his own birthday as a national event twice: the Army's 250th military parade on June 14, 2025, and a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn on June 14, 2026, run under the Freedom 250 banner.
• The White House built Freedom 250 on deceit. Musical performers, among others, were misled about programming and connections to Trump's political machine. Fundraisers may have misled donors who intended to support America250 and handed them Freedom 250's banking information, routing contributions meant for the nonpartisan foundation to the President's substitute entity instead. The report finds that, if true, this could constitute wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud under federal and District of Columbia law.
• Freedom 250 sold access to the President and courted foreign money in America's name. The organization circulated sponsorship packages starting at $500,000 and climbing above $10 million, backed by a "historic photo opportunity" with President Trump. Its CEO solicited foreign governments, corporations, and individuals at the World Economic Forum in Davos to fund the President's priorities. If foreign funds reach the President's vanity projects, the report finds the conduct would clearly violate the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause.
• Trump and his operatives cashed in. Event Strategies, Inc., the firm that helped plan the January 6th rally, has collected tens of millions in federal contracts connected to the anniversary, including a master contract worth up to $100 million. Trump traded in the stock of companies that donated to Freedom 250 and staged a White House UFC fight that shamelessly promoted his own investments and business ventures. Freedom 250's event registration process was run through Campaign Nucleus, the firm founded by Trump campaign operative Brad Parscale, which uses artificial intelligence to score visitors and target "persuadable" voters. Thousands of unwitting fans handed over their personal information at a free FIFA World Cup Fan Zone on the National Mall. Freedom 250's official merchandise is sold by the Trump campaign's official merchandise vendor, Ace Specialties, and agencies have purchased the merchandise and required employees to wear it.
• The White House imposed a false, Christian nationalist history. Federally funded "Freedom Trucks" carried revisionism and outright falsehoods to schoolchildren, including an AI rendering of George Washington claiming, "our rights are a gift from God," a statement Washington is not documented to have made. The Interior Department also urged employees to wear Freedom 250 pins and threatened discipline against those who refused the pin, which anonymous employees took to calling their "Vichy pin," a reference to World War II-era lapel pins that served as loyalty and propaganda badges.
• Freedom 250 created a blueprint for corruption. The report concludes Freedom 250 is "a blueprint, not a one-time abuse," already test-driven at the Department of Agriculture, where the administration steered companies with business before the government to donate through a conservation charity into a fund the Secretary controls.

The investigation drew on confidential disclosures from sources interviewed by Committee Democrats, internal Freedom 250 documents and talking points obtained by the Committee, sworn testimony from two Committee hearings, and written responses from the National Park Foundation and the National Forest Foundation.
Republicans on the Committee refused to conduct any oversight to hold the administration accountable, even when Democrats repeatedly raised evidence of wrongdoing at Republicans' own hearing entitled, "All in for America250: Public-Private Partnerships Supporting America's Semiquincentennial on our Public Lands." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum testified he was "not aware of the final decisionmaker" behind Freedom 250, and the Department has refused to provide that information since.

Read the full report here.

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