Next special counsel faces an uphill battle

In the midst of an economic crisis and two wars, it wouldn't be surprising to find the future of the independent agency that investigates whistleblower disclosures, prohibited personnel practices and Hatch Act violations low on the next administration's priority list.

But overlooking the Office of Special Counsel -- relatively unknown outside Washington until its recently resigned chief, Scott Bloch, became the subject of an inspector general probe and later, a federal grand jury investigation -- could mean a missed opportunity, according to current and former employees.

"We think that the next administration really should pay a lot of attention to the agency because it has the potential to do a lot of really good and important stuff," said Elaine Kaplan, who ran OSC from 1998 to 2003 and now serves as senior deputy general counsel of the National Treasury Employees Union. "And in spite of the fact that there have been a lot of problems there during the past five years and that there has been a lot of turmoil, I still think it's entirely possible that this place can be turned around."

That job won't be easy though, she said, noting that Bloch's successor "will have a lot of rebuilding to do."

OSC has been under the temporary leadership of William Reukauf since the White House ousted Bloch last week. Reukauf had been serving as associate special counsel and director of field operations.

Several observers agreed that the most important step the next president can take in repairing OSC's reputation is to choose Bloch's permanent replacement wisely. Kaplan said the new chief must be a fervent but impartial watchdog who is capable of winning the trust of the office's two core constituencies: federal employees and agency management.

One current OSC employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said the next special counsel has to move beyond the politicization of the office to inspire employees and restore the trust of the federal workforce.

"This is not a Republican or Democratic issue," the employee said. "We need a person who believes that whistleblowing is in the public interest and we need a person who establishes integrity to the office and who leads by example."

Mark Roth, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union already is developing a list of potential permanent successors to Bloch for the next president's consideration.

Prior to Bloch's departure, Kaplan and her former deputy, Tim Hannapel, penned an article for the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy outlining several other steps the next administration should take to restore the integrity and effectiveness of OSC.

They wrote that the office desperately needs more staffing and funding and advocated the implementation of a governmentwide education program to advise federal employees of their rights. They also recommended the creation of a complaint process for investigating charges against the special counsel, including those brought by agency employees.

The inherent problem with OSC, Kaplan said, is its staff is simply too small to accomplish its threefold mission of performing comprehensive investigations, conducting those reviews expeditiously and providing quality customer service to ensure that complainants know the status of their case.

OSC receives thousands of prohibited personnel practice complaints and whistleblower disclosures annually, as well as hundreds of Hatch Act complaints and thousands of other requests for Hatch Act advisory opinions, according to agency data.

But, in fiscal 2008, OSC had a budget of $17.5 million and a staff of only 110 employees. Kaplan has suggested a 50 percent budget increase. She acknowledged that such a boost was unlikely due to current budget constraints, but said the increase would pay for itself with the funds recouped from additional investigations of whistleblower disclosures.

In his initial Oct. 20 resignation letter, Bloch stated that under his leadership, OSC had eliminated its backlog of unresolved cases, resulting in a 400 percent increase in substantiated whistleblower disclosures. Kaplan, however, said the focus under Bloch was expediency, rather than the quality of reviews and the protection of whistleblower rights.

"It's understaffed and underfunded," Kaplan said. "And, because of that, it's really hard for OSC to process cases quickly and at same time figure out which cases are the right cases."

But agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said OSC thrived despite the investigation of Bloch and the office would continue "business as usual" during the transition to new leadership. "Through it all, this office has never stopped doing its job," Guglielmi said. "In fact, they are doing it better than ever before."