Reinstate the DOI litigation settlement transparency policy

Done

Printed page 533 16. Department of the Interior

“Interior Secretary David Bernhardt required DOI to prominently display and provide open access to any and all litigation settlements into which DOI or its agencies entered, and any attorneys’ fees paid for ending the litigation. … A new Administration should reinstate it.”

What has happened

Jun 23, 2025 Done
SO 3433, "Restoring and Modernizing Transparency and Accountability in Consent Decrees, Settlement Agreements, and Litigation Payments", states that it "reinstates and modernizes Secretary's Order (SO) 3368" and that "[t]he full provisions of SO 3368 are reinstated and incorporated by reference into this Order", while rescinding the Biden-era SO 3408. The public display of Interior's consent decrees, settlement agreements and the attorneys' fees paid to end litigation is departmental policy again.
- Secretary's Order 3433, signed text — §4(b) reinstates the full provisions of SO 3368 by reference
  Primary Executive branch Jun 23, 2025
- Secretary's Order 3433, “Restoring and Modernizing Transparency and Accountability in Consent Decrees, Settlement Agreements, and Litigation Payments” (June 23, 2025)
  Primary Executive branch Jun 23, 2025

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Bernhardt’s order was SO 3368; SO 3433 reinstates it and extends it to litigation payments.

Action: reinstate
Object: DOI litigation settlement transparency policy
ID: 1502