Career Civil Servants Need Some Security From Politicking

GSA Chief Grilled Over Potential Hatch Act Violations

Having watched some of Ms. Doan's testimony on C-SPAN, I can say that she was very astute at not answering questions and deflecting any question that might actually be seeking real information about these meetings. But the real problem is that the political entrenchment of those serving His Royal Highness King George has crossed a legal line that was put in place to stop the political manipulation of career civil servants in the government. None of the answers Doan provided were suitable in my view and for her sincere dishonesty and straight-out avoidance of any real answers are grounds for her dismissal. We deserve a cadre of career civil servants who should not be subjected to partisan pressures one way or the other. We passed laws at the federal, state and local levels that prohibit politicking on "government time" and pressuring government employees into acting on behalf of political agendas. While the line that determines what is and what is not "politics" can sometimes be blurred, that does not appear to be the case in the GSA. The actual PowerPoint slideshows clearly push a partisan political agenda and clearly cross over that line, even if the line was blurred.

The chief of the General Services Administration endured a withering line of questioning from congressional Democrats Wednesday, focused heavily on allegations that she and other GSA officials violated a law that prohibits political activity within government offices.

Lurita Doan told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a contentious hearing called by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the panel, that she did not think that any government agency should be involved in partisan activity. But at the hearing, which lasted about five hours, she repeatedly asserted that she could not remember details of a Jan. 26 meeting at a GSA facility.

Democrats allege the meeting, attended by Doan and more than 40 other GSA political appointees, had a political purpose. The incident is under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel for potential violations of the Hatch Act, which bars government workers from engaging in political activity on the job.

The meeting was headed by Scott Jennings, a deputy to Karl Rove, the leading political strategist at the White House; some officials participated by videoconference. A 28-slide PowerPoint presentation at the meeting named 20 Democratic members of Congress that the White House is targeting for defeat in 2008. The presentation also listed the 36 Republican members of Congress the White House considers most vulnerable.

Doan would not comment on whether she thought the presentation had political purposes. She characterized the 1:30 p.m. session as a "team building meeting" that is hosted every month and is exclusively for noncareer employees at GSA, which is the government's procurement and property management arm. She told lawmakers she attends the meetings whenever she can, and that they involve a variety of speakers who address the group "in whatever particular area of expertise they have."