WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE INTERIOR SECRETARY DO?
Pop star Jessica Simpson once mistook Gale Norton for an interior decorator. Simpson isn’t the only one confused over the role of a U.S. Interior secretary. The Cabinet post is one of the most wide-ranging and least- understood jobs in Washington. Interior’s far-flung duties include controlling a fifth of U.S. land and 68 percent of oil and gas reserves; coordinating budgets for a string of Pacific island territories; and running schools for some 50,000 American Indian children. At one point, the department even owned Nevada’s Mustang Ranch brothel, prompting Norton to observe: “It gives the phrase `Madame Secretary’ a whole new meaning.” Bloomberg: From Brothel Owner to Park Ranger, Interior Secretary Roams Far AFTER SEVEN YEARS AND $70 MILLION, WHITEWATER OFFICIALLY OVER: The seven-year, $70 million Whitewater investigation that toppled an Arkansas governor and dogged Bill Clinton for most of his presidency officially drew to a close Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hea
