MMS/BP Oil Spill Timeline
August 3, 2010 – Latest measure shows oil spill has dumped 4.9 million barrels into Gulf of Mexico
July 22, 2010 – PUBLIC HEARING: Secretary Salazar testifies at Full Committee hearing to examine the Department of Interior’s oversight of offshore drilling
July 16, 2010 – Oil well is capped, at least temporarily stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf
July 2, 2010 – Video CNN: The Issa Oil Report: Administration’s Lack of Command and Control Slowing Gulf Response
July 2, 2010 – VIDEO Interview Bloomberg: Issa Breaks Through White House Oil Spill Cleanup Spin
July 1, 2010 – REPORT: How the White House Public Relations Campaign on the Oil Spill is Harming the Actual Clean-up Efforts in the Gulf
July 1, 2010 – VIDEO Interview Fox Business: Issa: White House Press Spin Hurting Oil Spill Clean-up Efforts in the Gulf
July 1, 2010 – VIDEO Interview Fox News: The Issa Oil Report: Administration PR Campaign Hurting Clean-up Efforts
July 1, 2010 – VIDEO: White House Spinning Answers to GOP Oversight Report Questioning Oil Spill Cleanup Efforts
July 1, 2010 – VIDEO: Obama Press Secretary Gibbs Pressed on Damning GOP Oversight Oil Spill Report
July 1, 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon spill becomes the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico
June 29, 2010 – PR: Local Officials Express Concern on Government’s Readiness to Respond to Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
June 29, 2010 – Tropical weather gains strength in the Caribbean, endangering the cleanup effort
June 24, 2010 – PR: Issa Presses Interior Department for Answers and Documents on Sand Berm Order and Drilling Moratorium
June 22, 2010 – Federal Judge Martin Felman overturns the ban on deepwater oil drilling. The White House promises an immediate appeal of the ruling
June 22, 2010 – PR: Pursuing Moratorium Without Putting Forward a Plan to Replace and Retain Gulf Region Jobs is “Cold and Irresponsible”
June 17, 2010 – Tony Hayward testifies before a House investigations subcommittee. He says he is “deeply sorry,” and that more investigation is necessary before the cause of the blowout is known
June 16, 2010 – PR: Issa: President Can Either Retain Gulf Region Jobs or Surrender Them Abroad
June 15, 2010 – PR: President’s Address Tonight Should Focus on Gulf Job Crisis, Not Job-Killing Agenda
June 15, 2010 – VIDEO Interview MSNBC: Issa Calls on Obama to Outline a Plan for Replacing Gulf Jobs
June 14, 2010 – PR: Statement from Chairman Towns and Ranking Member Issa on the Committee Tour of the BP Oil Spill
June 14, 2010 – PR: Issa to Obama: Hypocrisy no Excuse for Inaction
June 14, 2010 – PR: Obama Invents Fantasy Scenario to Excuse Inaction and Deflect Criticism
June 14, 2010 – Press Briefing: Towns, Issa to Hold Joint Media Availability
June 13, 2010 – VIDEO: Issa: Obama is Running Out of Excuses on His Oil Spill Response
June 11, 2010 – VIDEO Interview Fox Business: Rep. Issa Talks Oil and Sestak on Fox Business
June 5, 2010 – Dateline: To Catch a…Regulator: Issa and Towns Break Down Oil Spill Investigations for Dateline
June 3, 2010 – PR: Issa Releases Coast Guard Documents That Shed New Light and Raise New Questions on the Administration’s Oil Spill Response
May 28, 2010 – Obama tours the Louisiana coastline, saying the federal government is treating the spill as its highest priority – he says the government has deployed 1,400 National Guard troops, 1,400 vessels and 3 million feet of boom
May 27, 2010 – PR: Issa Statement on MMS Chief’s Resignation
May 27, 2010 – Video Interview MSNBC: Issa: House Cleaning at Dysfunctional Oil Rig Regulator MMS Long Overdue
May 27, 2010 – The director of the Minerals Management Service, Elizabeth Birnbaum, resigns
May 14, 2010 – PR: Issa Statement on President’s Remarks Regarding MMS
May 13, 2010 – VIDEO: Oil Spills, Cocaine and Corruption: Let’s Reform the Minerals Mangement Service
May 11, 2010 – PR: Issa Statement on Interior Proposal to Split MMS
May 11, 2010 – Obama Administration proposes splitting MMS into two parts: one arm would be tasked with inspecitng rigs and enforcing regulations while the other would oversee drilling leases
May 6, 2010 – First oil landfall confirmed (Louisiana)
May 3, 2010 – PR: Issa to Investigate Regulators Responsible for Oversight of Offshore Drilling Activity
May 2, 2010 – Fishing is shut down from the Mississippi River to the Florida Panhandle
May 2, 2010 – Obama first travels to the Gulf
April 30, 2010 – Obama Suspends new offshore oil drilling
April 29, 2010 – Obama’s first remarks on the oil spill; he pledges to deploy “every single available resource” in response
April 22, 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon sinks
April 20, 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon explodes in the Gulf of Mexico
April 14, 2010 – PR: GAO Report: Interior Department Still Falling Short on Oil & Natural Gas Collection Efforts – Rep. Issa says, “the Administration needs to take this situation seriously”
October 7, 2009 – PR: Report: Teapot Dome Revisited – Dereliction of Fiduciary Duty at the Interior Department
October 7, 2009 – Legislation: Rep. Darrell Issa introduces legislation, H.R. 3736, to reform the Department of the Interior’s troubled MMS
March 31, 2009 – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Ed Towns (D-NY) released the Oversight Plan for the 111th Congress, a plan that voices the committee’s intention to delve deeper into MMS and the Department of Interior and its relationships with the oil industry