Salazar swears in new boss at MMS BOE
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar swears in Michael Bromwich as the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement on Monday as Interior Department Communications Director Betsy Hildebrandt holds a Bible. (Photo courtesy Interior Dept.)
The agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service earned a new boss and a new acronym on Monday.
Michael Bromwich took the reins of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement -- nicknamed by Obama administration as the “Bureau of Ocean Energy” or BOE, for short.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar swore in Bromwich on Monday, less than a week after President Obama named him to the role during a primetime address to the nation.
Only Bromwich's new colleagues attended his swearing-in ceremony, according to a spokeswoman and photos provided by the Interior Department. Interior Department Communications Director Betsy Hildebrandt held the Bible for Bromwich in lieu of family members.
Salazar said Bromwich "will be a key part of our team as we continue to change the way the Department of the Interior does business, help our nation transition to a clean energy future, and lead the reforms that will raise the bar for offshore oil and gas operations.”
Bromwich said the April 20 BP oil spill "has underscored the need for stronger oversight of offshore oil and gas operations, more tools and resources for aggressive enforcement, and a more effective structure for the agency that holds companies accountable."
Bromwich served as the top watchdog at the Justice Department from 1994 to 1999 and investigated several big cases, including the agency's involvement in the Aldrich Ames case. He's also a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and helped investigate the Iran Contra affair in the late 1980s.
By
Ed O'Keefe
| June 21, 2010; 3:12 PM ET
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Posted by: annegreen | June 22, 2010 6:29 AM | Report abuse
What a useless steaming pile a crap Salazar is
Posted by: yourmomscalling | June 22, 2010 10:03 AM | Report abuse
Wow, bold leadership, Salazar. Will all the stationary be changed, too?
This will sure change things in the gulf and maybe you won't have to fly back down there for those pesky photo ops.
Posted by: TnIndependent | June 22, 2010 10:12 AM | Report abuse
Great! Bromwich said the April 20 BP oil spill "has underscored the need for stronger oversight of offshore oil and gas operations, more tools and resources for aggressive enforcement, and a more effective structure for the agency that holds companies accountable." A guy who doesn't know that we already have the tools and resources and structure; all he has to do is use them!
Posted by: dragonlady45 | June 22, 2010 2:00 PM | Report abuse
Well OK, change the name but I remind you that "a rose by any other name is still a rose". Unless there is a managerial house cleaning and hiring new blood, the same mess remains. There needs to be a new "group-think" in this new agency that moves it well away from its cozy relationship with those that it regulates.
Posted by: RedRat | June 22, 2010 2:33 PM | Report abuse
Hard to expect much out of the Interior crowd. Obama even appointed the Democrat who led the discredited Troopergate attack on Sarah Palin and her husband, a political hack named Kim Elton, to the Alaska Affairs section in the Bureau of Land Management.
That's where the corrupt MMS operation is located ~ in BLM.
Fur Shur people know what's up in that part of Interior, and it doesn't sound good so they kind of reserve it for the dregs when it comes to appointees.
If you think it would be a good idea to do a "targeted clean out" of an agency, BLM is the place to start ~ tossing the fat lady from MMS didn't satisfy everybody guys.
Elton, who reportedly paid more than a million bucks cash money for a place on Capitol Hill when he first showed up in town certainly isn't the kind of character renowned for high moral values who's going to help set a better tone over there ~ and you'd better believe there are more of them just like him.
Posted by: muawiyah | June 26, 2010 9:11 PM | Report abuse
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Please clean house and hire some people who are hostile to oil companies and their bribed politicians and federal employees.