Subject: Interior offical quits ahead of hearing: Another Bush appointee, whose role was to further weaken the Federal government, resigns; Interior official quits ahead of hearing, By MATTHEW DALY, The Associated Press; An Interior Department official accused of pressuring government scientists to make their research fit her policy goals has resigned. Julie MacDonald, deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, submitted her resignation letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a department spokesman said Tuesday. MacDonald resigned a week before a House congressional oversight committee was to hold a hearing on accusations that she violated the Endangered Species Act, censored science and mistreated staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. MacDonald was recently rebuked by the department's inspector general, who told Congress in a report last month that she broke federal rules and should face punishment for leaking information about endangered species to private groups. Interior Department spokesman Hugh Vickery confirmed MacDonald's resignation but declined to comment further. MacDonald, a civil engineer with no formal training in natural sciences, had served in her post since 2004. … Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said MacDonald had "betrayed the mission she swore to uphold," adding that her actions "undermined both the work and the integrity of the Fish and Wildlife Service and its many dedicated employees." Wyden placed a hold Monday on President Bush's nomination of Lyle Laverty to be assistant Interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks until allegations against MacDonald were resolved. The inspector general's report said MacDonald tried to remove protections for a rare jumping mouse in the Rocky Mountains based on a questionable study, and reduced by 80 percent the amount of streams to be protected to help bull trout recover in the Pacific Northwest.

RESPONSE: Is there some where in this Republican administration an single honest person. We see the retired military officers coming forward now about the lies and mismanagement but where are the others...the Richardsons and Coxs from the Nixon days. Republican commentators have owned the reality that the war has been lost and mismanaged but what about the more mundane aspects of this administration's corruption...which seems to be the legacy of BUSH THE LESSER ... not a single honest administration official.