Last year, the Department of Interior issued an order requiring thousands of employees from all its constituent bureaus transfer to the Office of the Secretary. The “consolidation, unification and optimization of administrative functions” would “achieve effectiveness, accountability and cost savings for the American taxpayer.”
PEER obtained documents about the restructuring through a Freedom of Information Act request and a federal lawsuit. But the Department of Interior was unable to provide any documentation about savings to taxpayers and the individual bureaus. In a letter, the department indicated that, despite completing its records search, it did “not have any records responsive” to these two points.