President Donald Trump has nominated a long-time loyalist to lead the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office, the body set to investigate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool disaster.

Dennis Kirk is one of the authors of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto, the blueprint for Trump’s second term that recommended expanding executive power and removing uncooperative civil servants and federal agencies to advance conservative ambitions. He was nominated Friday, according to reports in The Washington Post and The Hill.

Kirk served at the Office of Personnel Management in Trump’s first term and was more recently an adviser to former director of national security Tulsi Gabbard, a position he held while also working in the office of the intelligence community’s inspector general.

His dual role invited conflict of interest concerns from the opposition and from ethics groups. News of his planned nomination has already been met with disdain by California Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Huffman called Kirk a “fake and fraudulent watchdog” and warned: “Everyone should have their eyes wide open. Each and every thing this political puppet does will be in service of Donald Trump.”

The congressman pointed out that the office in question “is weighing serious ethics investigations into senior officials in this administration” and added: “It’s no surprise the White House suddenly wants its own man inside the one place that Trump’s cronies still have reason to fear.”

Mark Greenblatt, the Interior’s previous IG, meanwhile warned: “Inspectors general are not political allies. Nor are they political adversaries.

“They are the taxpayers’ watchdogs tasked with conducting fair, objective, and independent oversight. An inspector general should never have to convince the public that he or she is independent. The structure of the office should make that self-evident.”

Hitting back, a White House official told The Independent: “Dennis Kirk has a long career within government demonstrating a loyalty to the rule of law. We look forward to Mr Kirk being confirmed as the next inspector general at Interior.”

Trump personally oversaw the renovation of the 103-year-old Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., part of his effort to “beautify” the capital in time for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

Initially saying the work to resurface the pool’s bottom in “American Flag Blue” would cost no more than $2 million, it subsequently emerged that the pricetag was closer to $16 million and that contracts had been handed out on a no-bid basis and without permission being sought.

The problems began when the pool was first refilled in mid-June, causing its new liner to come loose and bob to the surface while the water turned a sickly shade of green caused by unchecked algae blooms, in part encouraged by the muggy atmosphere of the Washington summer.

It soon emerged that a $1.7 million ozone nanobubbler used by the contractors to attempt to break up the weed had never previously been tested in standing water and that temporary versions of the technology also deployed had encountered problems.

Trump, however, insisted Democrat-affiliated “vandals” and “sleazebags” had damaged the pool by slashing at its new base with knives and dumped fertilizer into the water to feed the algae.

Amid heightened security at the landmark, four people – including a former U.S. Olympian and a British-American veterinarian – were arrested after being accused of removing material from the water.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for D.C., dropped the charges against them in early August, admitting in court filings that poor workmanship had been the true cause.

Trump subsequently lashed out at the former Fox News host, claiming she had “choked” under pressure and “folded like an umbrella.”

Pirro sought to blame Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for the failed prosecutions, alleging in filings that his department had “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case.”

Burgum retaliated to that criticism on X, declaring: “The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool.” His message, however, was quickly amended by moderators with a footnote that contradicted him.

The latest twist has seen Trump claim that “86 47” was found graffitied at the scene, which he interpreted as a coded threat against his life, a call to “86,” or kill, the 47th president. The president claimed, without evidence, the number was “probably” inspired by ex-FBI director and longtime foe James Comey.