Oversight of a Politicized Federal Government
August 19th, 2007 by Jesse LeeHow Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains
John Solomon, Alec MacGillis, Sarah Cohen, Washington Post – August 19, 2007
Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected, chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was “asset deployment,” and the message was clear:
The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush’s reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort.
“The White House determines which members need visits,” said an internal e-mail about the previously undisclosed Rove “deployment” team, “and where we need to be strategically placing our assets.”
Many administrations have sought to maximize their control of the machinery of government for political gain, dispatching Cabinet secretaries bearing government largess to battleground states in the days before elections. The Clinton White House routinely rewarded big donors with stays in the Lincoln Bedroom and private coffees with senior federal officials, and held some political briefings for top Cabinet officials during the 1996 election.
But Rove, who announced last week that he is resigning from the White House at the end of August, pursued the goal far more systematically than his predecessors, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Post, enlisting political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of his strategy to establish Republican electoral dominance.
Chairman Henry Waxman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is quoted later in the article: “What we are seeing is the tip of a whole effort to make the federal government a subsidiary of the Republican Party. It was all politics, all the time.” Chairman Waxman’s committee has been one of several investigating the politicization of a host of government agencies, see an extensive sampling of those oversight activities by using the search term “politicization” on this blog. Below is a smaller sampling of video clips from various oversight hearings.
The full extent of the politicization of government agencies first began to become clear in an Oversight Committee hearing on the General Services Administration, the federal governments chief contracting and acquisition agency. Held on March 28th, the hearing examined revelations that the GSA had hosted a political briefing for federal employees on key House districts represented by Democrats targeted for defeat or Republicans viewed as politically endangered. The briefing was given by Karl Rove’s deputy Scott Jennings. According to more than a half-dozen witnesses, including Doan’s own assistant, she urged the attendees to consider how they could help “our candidates,” to which Jennings replied that the conversation should be “taken off-line” according to a White House Office of Special Counsel investigation. The investigation concluded that Doan had violated the Hatch Act and should be strongly disciplined. A follow-up hearing examined Doan’s expressed intention to retaliate against those who told investigators about her actions. It would also later be revealed that the presentations were given to more than 20 agencies, each of which received a letter from Chairman Waxman demanding further information.
GSA Administrator Lurita Doan, responding to Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01): “I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit this but I can say that I honestly don’t have a recollection of the presentation at all.” |
During the same hearing, Rep. Brian Higgins questioned Doan on the use of RNC email accounts for supposedly official purposes. The White House later claimed that millions of such RNC emails had been lost, only to subsequently reverse themselves. After months of failed negotiations in which the White House attempted to bar the RNC from turning over emails related to the US Attorney firings, the Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena for the emails. The White House has not complied to date.
Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-27): “Mr. Jennings and other White House officials appear to be using their Republican National Committee email accounts on a routine basis to discuss politically sensitive topics. We know from documents obtained by the Judiciary Committee, for example, that Mr. Jennings used the identical Republican National Committee accounts to discuss the US Attorney firings that he was involved with…” |
On April 24, the Oversight Committee held a hearing, “Misleading Information from the Battlefield.” The hearing focused on the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. In one exchange, Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) questioned Specialist Bryan O'Neal, U.S. Army, an eyewitness to Tillman's death, on apparent tampering with his original reports on the incident. Negotiations have continued between the White House and the Committee to review and obtain key documents. Even after a second hearing on the Tillman incident, the author of the changes to the original report has not been identified.
Rep. Braley: “This version of the statement also says you, quote, ‘engaged the enemy very successfully,’ end quote, that the enemy moved most of their attention to your position which, quote, ‘drew a lot of fire from them.’ Did you write these sentences claiming that you were engaged with the enemy?” Specialist O’Neal: |
On May 23rd, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing with witness Monica Goodling as part of its ongoing investigation into the firings of US Attorneys. Goodling, a now-resigned aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was later revealed to have attended another such political briefing given by Karl Rove, and was widely viewed as a partisan enforcer inside the Justice Department, along with Kyle Sampson. Bother were given wide-ranging power to hire and fire inside the Justice Department. Rep. Jerry Nadler questioned Goodling on screenings for political affiliations in hirings:
Rep. Jerry Nadler: “Were any of your superiors in the Justice Department aware… that you were asking such kinds of questions either for Assistant US Attorneys or for career positions at all?” Goodling: “Um, in some cases, when, relating to immigration judges, when I started my position as White House liason I was informed that the Office of Legal Counsel had said that because those were positions under a direct appointment authority of the Attorney General that we could consider other factors in those cases. Later, concerns were raised…” |
The Washington Post would later find that “The Bush administration increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise in recent years in selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, despite laws that preclude such considerations” and that “At least one-third of the immigration judges appointed by the Justice Department since 2004 have had Republican connections or have been administration insiders, and half lacked experience in immigration law, Justice Department, immigration court and other records show.” During the same hearing, Rep. Bobby Scott questioned Goodling on whether she had violated any laws in taking political considerations into account in certain hirings:
Rep. Scott: “Rules? Laws? You crossed the law on civil service laws — You crossed the line on civil service law, is that right?” Goodling: |
On June 8th, two Science Committee subcommittees held a joint hearing on NASA Inspector General Robert “Moose” Cobb. Cobb remains on the job after a six-month investigation by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) found that Cobb had abused his authority and exhibited the appearance of a lack of independence from NASA management. Former NASA Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Deborah Herzog gave opening testimony on her experience working under Cobb:
Deborah Herzog: “In two cases approximately six months apart, Mr. Cobb was notified several hours before NASA OIG agents and FBI agents were to execute search warrants at NASA properties. Mr. Cobb said he would not allow the warrants to proceed before reading the affidavits, despite the fact that the responsible OIG supervisor had approved the warrants, the assistant United States Attorney assigned to the case thought the warrants were fine, and the warrants were signed by a United States Magistrate Judge. After reading the warrants, Mr. Cobb’s opinions included: there was no probable cause, the assistant US Attorney was stupid, and the NASA agents must have hoodwinked the magistrate.” |
On July 10th, the Oversight Committee held a hearing, “The Surgeon General's Vital Mission: Challenges for the Future.” Richard Carmona, who resigned as Surgeon General in 2006, will testified about what he viewed as political and partisan pressure. The hearing included a number of shocking revelations, leading Chairman Waxman to introduce the “Surgeon General Independence Act,” to request further documents on a number of matters, and to draft a letter to HHS Secretary Leavitt concerning blatantly political edits made to a key report. During the hearing, Chairman Waxman questioned Carmona about various issues in which the Bush Administration forced a political agenda on his office and blocked his input on matters of scientific information:
Richard Carmona: “Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, pre-conceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect. So I thought this is a perfect example of the Surgeon General being able to step forward, educate the American public as well as elected and appointed officials so that we can have, if you will, informed consent on an issue to the American public to make better decisions. I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made. Stand down, don’t talk about it. In speeches where initially that information was put in speeches it was removed from my speeches…” |
On July 31st, the Natural Resources Committee held a hearing, “Crisis of Confidence: The Political Influence of the Bush Administration on Agency Science and Decision-Making.” Chairman Rahall’s opening remarks:
Chairman Rahall: “The committee is convening today in light of unsettling reports about officials within the administration who are tweaking scientific data in order to advance a political agenda. It is a practice, quite honestly, worthy of the middle ages, when the pioneers of astronomy were forced by officials of the time to recant their science and to swear that the earth was flat. That such a ludicrous disregard for the truth is being allowed to influence our public policy today is simply untenable.” |
Also see documents, letters, and releases on politicization of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the role Vice President Dick Cheney may have played in Klamath River Basin decisions, the Attorney General's Honors Program and the Summer Law Intern Program, DOJ's Civil Rights Division and Voting Rights Section, Iraq intelligence, classified information and the Vice President’s office, and much more.