Here's what a Texas oil executive from DOGE is doing inside the Interior Department

A Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team has been given sweeping powers to overhaul the federal department that manages vast tracts of resource-rich public lands, but he hasn't divested his energy investments or filed an ethics commitment to break ties with companies that pose a conflict of interest, records show.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently directed Tyler Hassen, who lacks Senate confirmation and has no public administration experience, to reorganize the Interior Department, which oversees some 70,000 employees in 11 agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Before joining DOGE, Hassen spent nearly two decades as an executive at Basin Holdings, an enterprise involved in the manufacture, sale and servicing of oil rigs worldwide. A financial disclosure report obtained by AP shows Hassen made millions annually from these companies, owned by John Fitzgibbons — an industry giant who is well-connected in Russia.

These and other potential conflicts of interest are compounding the concerns of Democratic lawmakers, conservation groups and environmental advocates, who say Hassen’s appointment appears designed to evade Senate confirmation and oversight while testing the limits of congressional authority.

“It’s a dereliction of duty to offload decisions about staffing and funding at the Interior Department to someone who hasn’t even been confirmed by the Senate,” said Kate Groetzinger, with the Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan conservation group.

Interior officials didn’t respond to requests to interview Hassen.

Department spokesperson Katie Martin said in an email that Hassen is helping achieve the president’s vision for major changes, and Interior will “continue to prioritize retaining first responders, parks services and energy production employees.”

Once inside Interior in January, Hassen reviewed “every single contract, every single grant,” and sent action items to Burgum, he told FOX News in an April interview. Burgum praised Hassen and DOGE on X, saying they “have identified massive amounts of waste, fraud, and abuse already!”

A draft copy of Interior's new strategic plan includes increasing “clean coal, oil, and gas production through faster permitting” while reducing regulations to “generate more revenue from lands and resources for the U.S. Treasury.”

Hassen also has twice filed a notice in the Federal Register extending Trump’s freeze on regulations — which stops agencies from proposing or issuing new rules — and removed the opportunity for public comment as “contrary to the public interest.” The latest extension pushes it to June 4.

It’s unclear how Hassen became involved with Musk. There’s little information about him online. He told FOX News that before DOGE, he was “running five businesses in Houston." He said this work “is me giving back to the country.”

Hassen was an executive at Fitzgibbons-owned Basin Holdings — the privately held parent company for Basin Energy and Basin Industries — since 2008. An old Facebook page for Tyler Hassen includes a 2010 photo of him at the “Samotlor Field, Western Siberia - largest oilfield in Russia.”

Hassen’s brother, Todd, is also a Texas energy executive. He's been CEO of Red Wolfpack Resources since 2024 and was with Tellurian, a natural gas company, and EagleStone Resources before that, according to his LinkedIn page.

Burgum named Hassen his assistant secretary for policy, management and budget in March, but changed his title in April to “principal deputy assistant secretary.” An assistant secretary requires Senate approval and an ethics commitment to resign positions that would create a conflict of interest. A principal deputy does not.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, said Interior officials are committing fraud “by calling someone by a different name so that they don’t have to file a really important document where they explain how they’re going to comply with ethics standards.”

Hassen sought to fire a top department lawyer in April for refusing to give him and other DOGE officials access to a highly sensitive personnel database as he pushed for massive department-wide staff reductions through buyouts, early retirements and layoffs. Hassen wrote that Tony Irish, an associate solicitor, was “subverting, obstructing and delaying the process" and should be removed for misconduct.

Irish is on leave while appealing the firing and is represented by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “In seeking to remove Tony Irish, Tyler Hassen has demonstrated his own unfitness for federal service,” PEER executive director Tim Whitehouse said in a press release. “This type of corporate bullying is not how the people’s business is supposed to be conducted.”

Jacob Malcom, a former Interior Department executive, said Burgum's order directing Hassen to make “appropriate funding decisions” for administrative changes and ensure “the appropriate transfer of funds, programs, records and property" is unconstitutional — Congress appropriates funds, not assistant secretaries.

“Unless Congress has explicitly authorized those funds to be moved, they can’t actually transfer the funds,” Malcom said. “That’s just flat out illegal.”

Although Hassen didn't file a divestment commitment, he did file a financial disclosure in February — revised five times, the most recent dated April 21 — revealing he made almost $4 million annually from Fitzgibbon's oilfield services companies. Hassen said he sold his equity in these companies and is being paid in installments through June 2026.

Hassen reported that he holds $50,001 to $100,000 worth of stock in Fitzgibbon’s company Block Harvest, a cryptocurrency mining business that uses flared natural gas to run data centers. He reported owning $250,000 to $500,000 worth of stock in Fitzgibbon’s Global Guardian, a security company.

Hassen also declared 254 stock holdings, including cryptocurrency, tobacco, foreign banking and between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock each in Archrock, a Houston company that specializes in natural gas compression services; WEC Energy Group, which holds electric and natural gas companies and Quanta Services, which is involved in pipelines and pumping.

He's got a similar stake in Albemarle Corp., which owns the Silver Peak lithium mine in Nevada — the nation's only active lithium source. It's currently seeking authorization from Interior's Bureau of Land Management to expand its operations.

Hassen’s potential conflicts of interest have raised concerns among environmental groups and some U.S. lawmakers.

He’s attempting to remove regulations constraining the fossil fuel industries, said Josh Axelrod, a senior policy advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “As a member of those industries, he’s uniquely qualified to flag the ones they don’t like.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, the ranking Democrats on Interior's Senate and House oversight subcommittees, have demanded a stop to Hassen's large-scale reorganization.

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico told Burgum in a May 7 letter that “delegating sweeping authorities and responsibilities to a non-Senate confirmed person in violation of the Vacancies Reform Act is baffling and extremely troubling.”

This story has been updated to correct the name of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

FILE - Elon Musk flashes his T-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - This photo provided by the National Park Service shows a sign marking the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park, May 7, 2018. (Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP, File)

FILE - Interior Secretary Doug Burgum arrives before President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon,File)

FILE - Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks as his wife, Kathryn, and President Donald Trump listen, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci,File)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers are opening the practice window for star linebacker Fred Warner with the hope that he could return if the team reaches the NFC title game.

Warner has been out since breaking and dislocating his right ankle in a loss at Tampa Bay on Oct. 12, with coach Kyle Shanahan initially describing it as a season-ending injury.

But Warner has been rehabbing since then and even was able to run on a side field last week during practice. Now he will be back officially at practice as the 49ers prepare to play Seattle in the divisional round on Saturday night and could return if San Francisco wins.

“We’re not doing much so he’ll walk through out there with us today and things like that, but hoping he can be ready for next week,” Shanahan said Tuesday.

Warner's presence on the practice field even for a walkthrough provided an emotional lift for the 49ers.

“For someone who really set the standard here, I would do anything to play with him again this year,” defensive tackle Kalia Davis said. “We want him back out there.”

Eric Kendricks is currently manning Warner's spot at middle linebacker after backup Tatum Bethune got hurt but wasn't ready to talk about what Warner's possible return would do for the team.

“We’re aren’t going to talk about next week, right? We’ve got Seattle,” Kendricks said. “We’ve got to beat Seattle. Let’s pump our brakes. We have to beat Seattle this week. .. This is what meaningful football is all about.”

The 49ers have made it this far despite losing their top two defensive players to injuries early in the season, with defensive end Nick Bosa going down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 and Warner getting hurt in Week 6.

Warner has been pushing to make a return and if he can, that would provide a needed boost. But Shanahan said the final decision will be in the hands of the team doctors.

“If he feels good and tells me he’s good, I’m probably going to think he is and trust him to get out there,” Shanahan said. “But you can't always think with your heart and emotionally. So you ask doctors where he’s at, all the things that these guys have to pass, just protocols that we have in with just sprinting and jumping and things like that. He’s got to hit all those before we feel it’s safe.”

But Shanahan added that as soon as the doctors clear Warner, "obviously it’ll be zero decision on my part.”

Warner had been a first-team All-Pro three straight seasons from 2022-24 and made the squad in 2020. His 947 career tackles are the second most for the team, behind Patrick Willis’ 950, as far as records go back to 2000.

Warner had missed only one game in his eight-year career before this injury, sitting out in 2021 with a hamstring injury. He played most of last season with a broken bone in his ankle and still earned All-Pro honors.

Warner signed a three-year extension worth $63 million in the offseason, keeping him under contract with the team through the 2029 season.

In other injury news, safety Ji'Ayir Brown (hamstring) and Luke Gifford (quadriceps) all would have been unable to practice had the team held a session. Receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee), linebacker Dee Winters (ankle), guard Dominick Puni (ankle) and defensive lineman Keion White (groin, hamstring) all would have been limited.

Shanahan also said tight end George Kittle is set to have surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon on Wednesday. Kittle went on injured reserve Tuesday and tight end Brayden Willis was signed from the practice squad.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner is carted off the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken, File)

FILE - San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner (54) runs to the locker room after pregame warm-ups before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct 12, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit, File)