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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) attributed any lack of oversight surrounding the massive oil spill off the Gulf Coast to the previous presidential administration during a press conference Thursday.

“Many of the people appointed in the Bush administration are still burrowed in the agencies that are supposed to oversee the [oil] industry,” Pelosi said when asked if Democrats could have prevented or mitigated the crisis by keeping a closer watch on the industry.

Added the Speaker, “the cozy relationships between the Bush administration’s agency leadership and the industry is clear.”

While Republicans have challenged President Barack Obama’s response to the disaster, Pelosi said Thursday that she has not encountered any criticism from her side of the aisle.

“I've heard no complaints from my members about the way the president has handled it,” Pelosi stated.

Pelosi’s remarks followed the resignation of Elizabeth Birnbaum as Director of Minerals Management Service [MMS], the agency with regulatory authority over companies that perform off shore drilling.