[link|http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/17/national/main522256.shtml|What is it with this department?]

Excerpt:

(CBS) Accusing the Interior Department of setting the gold standard for mismanagement, a federal judge Tuesday said he was holding Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt, reports CBS News Correspondent Stephanie Lambidakis.

Norton, like her predecessor Bruce Babbitt, is under orders to add up the billions of dollars Native Americans are owed for land held in trust and to fix the trust fund program.

But U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said little had been done in the three years since the Interior Department was told to clean up the program. And he said his lifetime tenure may not be long enough to get the trust fund on track.

Lamberth called the department's handling of the Indian money and the action of government attorneys in the case disgraceful, noting that he has the authority to take management of the funds away from the department.

Norton is the third Cabinet officer that Lamberth has held in contempt over the trust fund. Babbitt and former President Clinton's treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, also were held in contempt on the case.