House Democrats want more information on Trump administration’s threats over Murkowski’s health care vote

WASHINGTON — The federal Government Accountability Office has agreed to offer a legal opinion on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's phone calls to Alaska's U.S. senators about legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The GAO, the government's independent watchdog, responded Friday to a request from Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey and Raul Grijalva of Arizona. Pallone is the top Democrat on the Committee for Energy and Commerce, and Grijalva, on the Committee for Natural Resources.

The congressmen were responding to a report by Alaska Dispatch News about phone calls Zinke made to Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan — at the behest of President Donald Trump — regarding Murkowski's "no" vote on repealing Obamacare.

[Trump administration threatens retribution against Alaska over Murkowski health votes]

Sullivan told Alaska Dispatch News that Zinke made clear that Murkowski's vote could result in repercussions for Alaska.

The GAO agreed "to provide a legal opinion on Secretary Ryan Zinke's phone calls to Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan regarding pending health care legislation" and assigned the request to a general counsel at the agency, according to a letter published by Pallone.

Meanwhile, Pallone and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, D-Colo., expanded their probe Friday to the Environmental Protection Agency after a Washington Post report saying that the agency put a temporary hold on grants to the state of Alaska after Murkowski voted against repealing the ACA.

"Reports that the Trump Administration decided to withhold federal environmental grants from the state of Alaska on the same day that Senator Murkowski voted against a major Republican health care bill suggests that the Trump Administration is politicizing the process of awarding taxpayer-financed grants," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. They asked Pruitt to provide more information about grants to Alaska and whether the president or any other administration official directed a halt in funding to Alaska.

The new investigations come just a week after the Interior Department's inspector general dropped a probe into the threat, saying "further investigation would prove unproductive" after Murkowski and Sullivan both declined to be interviewed or provide statements on the matter.