Nikki Tinsley, the tenacious inspector general at the EPA, stepped down today. She’s been something of a thorn in the side of the Bush administration, publicly lambasting its weak clean-air enforcement and calling its mercury-emissions rules a sop to industry — all while maintaining a reputation for integrity and professionalism. I’m sure they’re not sorry to see her go.
In her resignation letter she raised concerns over anemic funding for the National Defense Authorization Act, worrying that it would become "increasingly difficult to convince career employees to accept IG appointments in the future." I’m sure that’s a totally unintended effect — nobody loves independent oversight more than the Bush administration.
Update [2006-1-26 16:6:55 by David Roberts]: Oh, hey, look at that: Judith Lewis already blogged about this, and has some good links — including a link to Tinsley’s whole resignation letter (PDF).
