John Murdock, an 18-year veteran attorney in the Department of the Interior legal office, resigned on September 30, denouncing what he called “a deeply troubling assault on the rule of the law.” Murdock, a self-described conservative Christian who began at Interior in 2002, said his resignation was prompted by “glaring legal flaws” he witnessed under the Trump administration and by the agency’s aggressive push to expand fossil fuel drilling. He singled out a December incident in which Matt Giacona, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, announced a Gulf of Mexico lease sale that drew bids from 30 companies totaling more than $370 million while claiming the administration was “upholding the highest environmental standards.” Murdock’s letter notes a BOEM memo, coordinated with Interior’s legal office, that concluded NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and other safeguards “are not applicable at the lease sale stage” for that sale, known as BBG1, and he highlighted ensuing lawsuits from environmental groups challenging the sale’s legality. His public departure comes amid an exodus of longtime federal workers and scientists from Interior, and Murdock said he hopes his story might help others and assist in preserving the rule of law.
