Wartime contracting commission members named

A former inspector general, a veteran contracting auditor and an ex-undersecretary of State are among a diverse group of management specialists selected to investigate billions of dollars of contract spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The White House and congressional leaders have announced most of the appointees to the long-awaited Commission on Wartime Contracting. The bipartisan team is charged with investigating virtually all war-related contracts, including funds devoted to reconstruction, logistical support for coalition forces, and security and intelligence functions.

The commission is the brainchild of Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. The freshmen senators co-wrote the provision creating the panel, which was included in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act and signed into law in January.

"The work that this commission will perform during its two-year charter is something American taxpayers both demand and deserve," Webb said.

The law allows Democratic senior leaders to appoint four members to the commission. House and Senate Republicans can name one member apiece and the White House gets two selections.

In late June, seven of the eight members were selected. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has yet to announce his pick, who will serve as the commission's Republican co-chairman. McConnell is reviewing input he has received from the ranking members of the Armed Services, Foreign Relations and Homeland Security committees about the appointment, according to a spokesperson.

The Democratic selections include:

• Michael Thibault (co-chairman) spent 31 years with the Defense Contract Audit Agency, including 11 years as deputy director. Thibault, who now serves as director at Navigant Consulting Inc., has experience in government contract accounting, auditing and regulatory compliance.
• Clark Kent Ervin, the first inspector general for the Homeland Security Department. Since January 2005, Ervin has served as director of the Homeland Security Initiative at the nonpartisan Aspen Institute.
• Linda Gustitus, former chief of staff to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Forces Committee. Gustitus also has worked as a federal and state prosecutor and as a law professor.
• Charles Tiefer, a contracts law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and former deputy general counsel for the House of Representatives. Tiefer said he was looking forward to "studying the systematic problems of wartime contracting, particularly issues of waste, fraud and abuse, and lack of competition."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, selected:

• Dean Popps, acting assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. Popps previously served on the Defense Department's Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

President Bush selected:

• Grant Green, former undersecretary of State for management. He previously served as assistant secretary of Defense involved in total force management policies, military and civilian manpower and personnel matters.
• Dov Zakheim, who served as the Defense Department's chief financial officer, overseeing all aspects of the agency's accounting and auditing systems. Zakheim is now a vice president at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

The White House's cooperation with the panel is an about-face from its earlier public stance.

Shortly after signing the defense authorization, Bush issued a signing statement that said he did not have to abide by four provisions in the legislation, including the one creating the commission. At the time, Bush said the provisions could inhibit his "ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and execute his authority as commander in chief."

Webb immediately pushed back, criticizing the statement as an "impingement on the rights" of Congress and said the Senate would "march forward in an expeditious manner" to create the panel. Webb's office said the White House seems to have dropped its objections and plans to cooperate with the panel.

"Signing statements have a range of purposes, and the president has issued thousands since taking office, so I can't speak to their specific reason for including our commission. But since the White House has cooperated, it seems a moot issue at this point," said Webb spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter. "We have also been assured by officials in the Department of Defense that they will cooperate fully with the commission's work.

The commission is modeled after the Truman committee, which conducted hundreds of hearings and investigations into government waste during and after World War II. The Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program reportedly saved taxpayers more than $178 billion (in today's dollars).

The new commission will examine contracts retroactively and the "extent that those responsible for waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement have been held financially and legally accountable." The group also will study the overarching issue of government's reliance on contractors during the war.

The panel is empowered to hold hearings, take testimony, receive evidence and provide for the attendance and statements of witnesses as well as the production of documents. It can refer potential criminal acts to the attorney general.

Unlike an earlier version of the law, however, the commission does not have direct subpoena power. If an agency or private contractor refuses to cooperate, the panel must notify the congressional committees that have jurisdiction over the commission.

The committee will issue an interim report within a year and a final report within two years, at which point it will be disbanded.