The National Park Service broke agency rules to send an exorbitant share of park maintenance money to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district, including the entire $200 million pot of money that Congress included in last year’s budget-climate bill.
Director Charles F. Sams revealed to Congress that higher-ups at the Interior Department ordered him to ensure that the Presidio, a park in Mrs. Pelosi’s district, got the money. He was told they had concluded it was Congress’ intent when it allocated the $200 million — even though the law didn’t say that.
Mr. Sams acknowledged last week that sending the money violated several of his agency’s norms.
With a couple of other projects, Mrs. Pelosi’s district collected nearly a quarter of the entire amount of funding that Congress authorized last year for reducing the maintenance backlog at park service sites, Republican lawmakers said. A quarter of the money for one of 435 districts would be seriously out of proportion.
“NPS to us stands for the National Park Service. We’re very concerned that this has become Nancy’s Park Service,” Rep. Thomas Tiffany, Wisconsin Republican, told Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
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Article URL : https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/24/pelosis-final-payoff-park-service-sent-200-million/