Possible Hearings on NASA IG
April 3rd, 2007 by Jesse LeeThis morning we posted on Reps. Bart Gordon and Brad Miller, along with Senator Bill Nelson, calling for the resignation of NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb. Today the Science Committee issues another release on the matter:
Gordon, Miller, Nelson Move Toward Hearings on NASA IG Investigation
(Washington, DC) — One day after calling for the removal of Robert Cobb as inspector general (IG) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. House Science & Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC), and U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Matters Chairman Bill Nelson (D-FL), again joined forces to make clear to all federal agencies involved that they could expect further Congressional action on the matter.
Today Chairman Gordon, Chairman Miller and Chairman Nelson asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — specifically, the President's & Executive Councils on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) — for immediate delivery of unredacted copies of their Integrity Committee's (IC) report on the Cobb investigation.
Yesterday, the Committee received the Integrity Committee's redacted report. In that report, the IC determined that Mr. Cobb had abused his authority, created a hostile work environment and had not maintained an appearance of independence from NASA officials. The three chairmen with jurisdiction over NASA immediately called on President Bush to remove the NASA IG from his post.
“According to press reports today however, President Bush has determined that NASA's recommendation that Mr. Cobb develop 'an individual leadership/management plan' while attending a resident course at the Federal Executive Institute is sufficient to address these findings,” stated the Members in their letter to OMB. “We respectfully disagree. As a result, we are preparing for possible hearings to investigate Mr. Cobb's conduct as Inspector General.”
Read the Members' letter to Clay Johnson, Chairman of the PCIE.
From this morning:
Probe spurs calls for Bush to fire NASA inspector
Michael Cabbage, Orlando Sentinel – April 3, 2007
Nelson was even blunter in an interview Monday.
“I have had innumerable complaints [about Cobb] in my office over the past two years, which is why I forwarded them to the proper authorities,” he said. “Where there was smoke, the report says there was fire, and it is time for this guy to go.”
In a March 14 letter obtained by the Sentinel, Griffin wrote to Clay Johnson, chairman of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and recommended sending Cobb to the Federal Executive Institute, where he would get assistance developing an individual leadership and management-training plan.
Cobb would be assigned an executive coach to enhance his leadership and management skills and also would meet with NASA’s deputy administrator bimonthly to discuss his professional growth. In addition, Griffin would meet with employees of Cobb’s office to inform them of his actions and hear their concerns.
In a March 20 letter to Johnson also obtained by the Sentinel, integrity committee chairman James Burris Jr. wrote that Griffin’s recommendations did not go far enough.
“All members of the committee believed the proposed course of action recommended by the Administrator of NASA was inadequate to address the conduct of IG Cobb,” the letter read. “All members of the committee further believed that disciplinary action up to and including removal could be appropriate.”