Defense, HHS inspectors general accused of abusing power

Personnel changes by two inspectors general have led to inquiries from Congress and the General Accounting Office, and a call for the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency to investigate IG activities.

A complaint forwarded to the council on Oct. 28 by attorneys William Bransford and Jason Hadges alleged that Defense Department Inspector General John Schmitz arbitrarily reassigned three Senior Executive Service employees on Aug. 8, "without advance warning or stated reasons."

On Oct. 22, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Max Baucus, D-Mont., and John Breaux, D-La., asked GAO to audit the Health and Human Services Department's IG shop, after employees blew the whistle on a series of staff changes involving Senior Executive Service employees in that office.

At the Defense Department, three senior officials were reassigned to other offices without explanation, according to the complaint. The three were Carol Levy, assistant IG for investigations and director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); Thomas Bonnar, deputy assistant IG for investigations and DCIS deputy director; and Joel Leson, director for administration and information management. The three said they were told not to contact other Defense Department IG employees; were prohibited from accessing agency files, e-mail and computer systems; were required to return their office keys, identification and agency-issued weapons; and directed to remove all personal items from their offices.

While officials at the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General declined to discuss the staff changes, describing it as an "ongoing personnel process," agency spokesman John Crane did confirm that the reassignments were temporary and would end by Dec. 5. Crane also pointed to recommendations included in an August 2002 agency assessment, which cited reorganization of GS-15 employees as critical to accomplishing the IG's mission. An eight-member task force performed the assessment, which began soon after Schmitz took office in April.

"No member of the team has seen an organization, civil or military, manned by so many talented people, so ill-served by its senior leadership," the report said. "This level of management displays all of the malignant attributes attributed to entrenched bureaucracy."

But the complaint disputes the conclusions in the report because there were no specific problems or shortcomings attributed to the three reassigned employees. "Mr. Schmitz's actions have undermined the integrity and credibility of the IG's office," the complaint said.

At Health and Human Services, IG Janet Rehnquist "mandated involuntary retirements and reassignments for career employees with stellar reputations for fighting fraud, waste, and abuse in federal health care programs, including several recipients of presidential awards," according to a statement from Grassley.

"I can understand the need to clean house at a place where the wheels have fallen off, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office," Grassley said. "However, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has had a very good reputation for many years, so that makes me question more closely the need for such personnel action."

In a letter sent to GAO and the senators, Rehnquist said she welcomed the watchdog agency's audit of her operations.

"I am proud of what we have accomplished as an agency during the 14 months that I have served as IG," Rehnquist wrote. "And I am confident that your findings will further illustrate our many successes."

The reports and investigations are pending.