Sen. David Vitter opposes pay raise for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

He complains that new deepwater exploratory permits for the Gulf of Mexico have been issued too slowly

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., as part of his campaign to pressure the Interior Department to issue more deepwater permits, wrote Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last month saying that, "Given the completely unsatisfactory pace of your department's issuance of new deepwater exploratory permits in the Gulf, I cannot possibly give my assent" to legislation that would grant Salazar a nearly $20,000 raise, until the pace of permitting equals pre-moratorium levels.

View full sizeManuel Balce Ceneta, The Associated Press archiveInterior Secretary Ken Salazar speaks before a meeting of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Last week, the longtime Vitter critics at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether, with that letter, Vitter was guilty of bribery. "Whether it is a defense contractor buying French furniture for a congressman in exchange for earmarks, or a senator who ties a department secretary's pay raise to approving permits, bribery is bribery," CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said.

Vitter spokesman Luke Bolar countered that "CREW has a clear track record of filing frivolous, political attack complaints, but that certainly won't deter Sen. Vitter from using every tool available to reopen the Gulf and defend Louisiana jobs. If CREW thinks this is bribery, then it should file complaints against their buddy (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid for buying votes with the Louisiana Purchase and Cornhusker Kickback."

The Louisiana Purchase and the Cornhusker Kickback refer to provisions included in the Senate version of last year's health care legislation intended to bring additional Medicaid monies to Louisiana and Nebraska. The Louisiana money made it into the final legislation, but the Nebraska provision did not.

Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.857.5131. Jonathan Tilove can be reached at jtilove@timespicayune.com or 202.857.5125.