National Park Service (NPS) Director Chuck Sams told Congress that President Joe Biden’s Interior Department ordered him to transfer $200 million in federal funding to a park in Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) district, drawing increased scrutiny by House Republicans.
Last week, Sams reportedly told Congress that Interior Department Fish and Wildlife and Parks Assistant Secretary Shannon Estenoz directed Sams to transfer of $200 million to the Presidio Trust, a federal agency that operates the Presidio, a 1,500-acre former military installation used as a public recreation area in Pelosi’s district near the Golden Gate Bridge.
“[Sams] was told they had concluded it was Congress’ intent when it allocated the $200 million — even though the law didn’t say that,” the Washington Times reported. “Mr. Sams acknowledged last week that sending the money violated several of his agency’s norms.”
During a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands oversight hearing, Rep. Thomas Tiffany (R-WI) expressed concern that the NPS is becoming “Nancy’s Park Service.”
“NPS to us stands for the National Park Service. We’re very concerned that this has become Nancy’s Park Service,” Tiffany told Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
In addition to the $200 million for the Presidio, Pelosi’s district received $63.6 million from NPA for Alcatraz and $102.3 million for the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
The $365.9 million Pelosi’s district received from NPS makes up nearly one-quarter of the $1.5 billion Congress allocated to NPA for fiscal year 2023.
Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Tiffany sent a letter to Estenoz requesting more information on the $200 million transfer.
The letter said:
As you are aware, the National Park System currently reports approximately $22.3 billion in deferred maintenance and repairs. In addition to other discretionary and mandatory funding sources, the NPS was provided with approximately $1.53 billion this fiscal year, including $1.33 billion through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and $200 million in the IRA, to address priority deferred maintenance projects across the nation. Concerningly, nearly 24 percent of that funding went to one Congressional district, represented by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, including the entire $200 million provided for deferred maintenance in the IRA.
The Republican congressmen said Sams’ testimony “raised numerous questions about whether the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco will be appropriately utilized for deferred maintenance and repairs.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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