Free Republic

No warning. Just resigned. No further details.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has given Interior Secretary Gale Norton an ultimatum: Either appear in his court or face the prospect that he'll rule against her on an accusation that she retaliated against American Indians suing her agency for lost royalties. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth gave Norton the choice in an order he issued late Monday. The judge has frequently battled with the Interior Department since a class-action suit was filed in 1996 on behalf of more than 300,000 Indians seeking an accounting of trust funds set up in their behalf more than a century ago. The government...

While watching the talking heads discussing the political issues of the day, a comment made during an interview with Gail Holmes Norton caught my attention. Ms. Norton is a democrat member of the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia. Since representatives from the District cannot vote on final legislation pending in the House, I was intrigued when she stated that her main goal in 2004 would be passage of the "No Taxation Without Representation Act." Since the bill was cleverly phrased, I decided to do a little research and find out more about her proposed legislation. When I...

DENVER (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton said Wednesday that her agency wants to triple the number of drilling permits approved in Wyoming's natural gas fields to help meet the nation's growing energy needs. Wyoming, Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states make up one of the country's two major accessible gas reserves, Norton said in an interview with The Associated Press following an energy conference. "Natural gas is a major energy need for the country. The demand for natural gas is expected to far outstrip the production," Norton said. The Bush administration is pushing for speedier approval of permits to...

Forty and counting. That is the number of former and current government employees facing possible contempt charges in the contentious case over the government's handling of Native American trust funds. The scope of the controversy is unprecedented. The Interior Department, home to a large portion of the accused employees, is an agency under siege. Interior officials are saying that Cobell v. Norton is hampering their ability to fix the trust and is taking a toll on the work force. Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles recently told Congress that some employees have refused to work on the trust anymore -- and...