Following claims by some congressional Republicans that the Clinton administration is meddling in the base closing process, Defense Secretary William Cohen has ordered an outside review of the competition for jobs at an Air Force base destined to be shut down.
A Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday that Cohen acted "to eliminate some fears that this process won't be handled fairly," the Associated Press reported.
Cohen accepted a request from acting Air Force Secretary Whitten Peters removing himself from deciding the outcome of jobs at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif.
Peters set off the flap with an April 26 memo, made public last week by congressional Republicans, in which he suggested that Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre press Lockheed Martin Corp. to seek jobs that will be farmed out to private companies after McClellan is closed.
The Air Force is to determine who wins the jobs by the fall.
The spokesman said Cohen decided an independent review authority was needed to ensure fairness in the bidding process for jobs at McClellan.
Responding to the Pentagon decision, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said: "I appreciate Secretary Cohen's swift reaction to our concerns. He clearly has a duty to protect the base closing process from White House meddling."
Cohen's announcement came a day after Armey called for the resignations of Peters and John Podesta, the deputy White House chief of staff, over the Air Force memo.
Armey had called the memo "irrefutable evidence that the Clinton administration has outrageously politicized the military base closing process."
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