Formation of the department A department for domestic concern was first considered by the
1st United States Congress in 1789, but those duties were placed in the
Department of State. The idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by presidents from
James Madison to
James Polk. The 1846–48
Mexican–American War gave the proposal new steam as the responsibilities of the federal government grew. Polk's
secretary of the treasury,
Robert J. Walker, became a vocal champion of creating the new department. In 1849, Walker stated in his annual report that several federal offices were placed in departments with which they had little to do. He noted that the
United States General Land Office had little to do with the Treasury and also highlighted the
Indian Affairs office, part of the
Department of War, and the
Patent Office, part of the
Department of State. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be brought together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing its creation of the department passed the
House of Representatives on February 15, 1849, and spent just over two weeks in the
Senate. The department was established on March 3, 1849 (), the eve of President
Zachary Taylor's inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the department. Its passage was delayed by
Democrats in
Congress who were reluctant to create more
patronage posts for the incoming
Whig administration to fill. The first
secretary of the interior was
Thomas Ewing. Several of the domestic concerns the department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other departments. For example, the Department of Interior was responsible for water pollution control prior to the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency. Other agencies became separate departments, such as the
Bureau of Agriculture, which later became the
Department of Agriculture. However, land and natural resource management, American Indian affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior.
Controversies Secretary of the Interior
Albert B. Fall was implicated in the
Teapot Dome scandal of 1921. He was convicted of bribery in 1929, and served one year in prison, for his part in the controversy. A major factor in the scandal was a transfer of certain oil leases from the jurisdiction of the
Department of the Navy to that of the Department of the Interior, at Fall's behest. Secretary of the Interior
James G. Watt faced criticism for his alleged hostility to environmentalism, for his support of the development and use of federal lands by foresting, ranching, and other commercial interests, and for banning
the Beach Boys from playing a 1983 Independence Day concert on the
National Mall out of concerns of attracting "an undesirable element". His 1983 resignation was prompted by a speech in which he said about his staff: "I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent." Under the Administration of President
George W. Bush, the Interior Department's maintenance backlog climbed from $5 billion to $8.7 billion, despite Bush's campaign pledges to eliminate it completely. Of the agency under Bush's leadership, Interior Department inspector general
Earl Devaney has cited a "
culture of fear" and of "ethical failure." Devaney has also said, "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of Interior." Launched in June 2021, the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative intended to investigate federal Indian boarding school policies and multi-generational impacts of trauma on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children. Released in two volumes, the three year investigation produced the first report in May 2022 and the second and final volume in June 2024. The final report details the severe trauma and cultural disruption inflicted on Native American communities through these schools, which operated from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. It highlights the systemic abuse and neglect endured by students, finding 973 children died at the schools and calls for accountability and measures to address the ongoing impact on Native American families and communities to include working closely with tribal nations on the identification and repatriation of the remains. == Federal Consulting Group ==