New bathroom cost $235K

BOISE - Just weeks before Interior Secertary Dirk Kempthorne is slated to leave office – a mild controversy is brewing after the Washington Post reported on a $235,000 remodel of his private Washington bathroom.

Cable pundits and the blogosphere are hammering the former Idaho governor for allowing the bathroom project to continue – especially in light of his long stance against government waste.

The Secretary of Interior's office is one of the biggest cabinet offices in Washington.

Built in 1937 - it is also one of the oldest. In 1990, long before Kempthorne had ideas of becoming Interior Secretary, the US General Services Administration embarked on a project to modernize the 72-year-old structure - a $243-million effort to bring it up to code, remove asbestos and upgrade lighting and plumbing. 

The Washington Post reported the remodel included a new shower, a refrigerator and, the item making the biggest headline:  monogrammed towels.

Cable pundit Rachel Maddow poked fun at that item on her MSNBC show this week.

"Monogrammed towels?!  Hope they're monogrammed with Ken Salazar's name on them!” she said.

A Department of Interior spokesperson denies the existence of monogrammed towels, and says the Washington Post’s reporting is inaccurate.

The report on those towels and the overall cost are giving Idahoans cause to weigh in on the issue.

When Kempthorne first ran for high profile office – he used waste in Washington, DC as part of his campaign against Richard Stallings for US Senate.

During the 1992 campaign, then-mayor Kempthorne ran a memorable ad highlighting some of the waste in the nation’s capital.

"I hear they have elevator operators to work push button elevators!  Lets find some,” Kempthorne said in the ad.

Kempthorne was not available to speak – but we asked a Department of Interior spokesperson if Kempthorne ever tried to scale down the project.

"First, the washroom replaced the one that will be removed to allow for an emergency stairwell when the step-by-step building renovation reaches the area of the Secretary's office,” spokesperson Shane Wolfe said. “The shower is not a new shower, but one that was moved from the washroom that will be dismantled. There is a small refrigerator and ice maker in the bathroom. It is the only refrigerator and the only ice maker in or near the Secretary's office. The next closest would be two stories down. “

Still, many continue to point to that memorable shot of Kempthorne in Washington aboard an underground tram that carries lawmakers from building to building on the hill.

"Well, it sure looks like a lot of spending around here to me," he said in the ad.

Wolfe says the Department of Interior is uniquely positioned to take care of its building.

other places is what we do (in part, of course)," said Wolfe.

Wolfe told us the Washington Post report of the monogrammed towels was incorrect.

We asked the Washington Post if they would stand by their story. They have yet to respond.