House Hearing Turns Partisan As GSA Chief Answers Criticism Comparing herself to the hero of the classic film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” GSA Administrator Lurita Doan told Congress she is the victim of retaliation from the bureaucracy because she imposed “fiscal discipline” at the agency. “Like [actor] Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith, I stand here — I’m going to be honest — I’m facing a gazillion allegations,” she told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee March 28. In a sharply partisan hearing, Democrats grilled Doan about allegations that she had politicized the agency and improperly interfered in contracting decisions, while Republicans said Democrats had produced no evidence of wrongdoing.” “I made mistakes and probably I’m going to make a few more,” Doan testified, “but there was no wrongdoing.” The allegations center primarily on three incidents that surfaced as a result of news leaks, apparently coming from inside GSA: Political Briefing On Jan. 26 Doan attended a “brown-bag luncheon” at GSA headquarters with about 40 political appointees, including some who participated by videoconference from the agency’s regional offices. They heard a briefing by J. Scott Jennings, deputy to White House political director Karl Rove, on Republicans’ prospects for the 2008 election. One of the slides in Jennings’ Power Point presentation identified Democratic Congress members who were “Targets” for 2008. Democratic investigators said six people who attended the meeting recalled Doan asking what GSA could do to help “our candidates.” Doan testified, “I cannot recollect making that statement.” She insisted she remembered practically nothing about the meeting except for the cookies that were served. Democrats said the briefing appeared to violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity on the job. Doan repeatedly declined to say whether she believes the meeting was a violation. She said that decision is up to the Office of Special Counsel, which monitors Hatch Act complaints. Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley said: “This was a partisan political briefing. It occurred on GSA property during work hours. It had nothing to do with the GSA mission.” Doan said: “This was not my meeting. I did not run it…I did not invite the speaker, Scott Jennings, to the meeting.” She described the session as a monthly “team-building” exercise for the agency’s political appointees. Braley replied, “I think the American taxpayers have very good reason to wonder whether the only team that was being built during this briefing was the Republican Party team.” “She didn’t call this meeting,” said the committee’s senior Republican, Tom Davis of Virginia. He said he was sure such briefings took place in many federal agencies. Davis added, “News flash: The president appointed a Republican to head GSA.” Democrats said Doan, the founder of an IT company, had contributed $200,000 to the Republican Party. She did not dispute the figure. After the hearing, Committee Chairman Henry Waxman asked the White House whether similar briefings had been given to personnel at other agencies. In a letter to Rove, he requested all documents and communications concerning the “use of federal agencies or resources to help Republican candidates.” Sun Microsystems Contract After an audit of Sun Microsystems’ pricing on its GSA schedule contract, the agency’s inspector general alleged that Sun overcharged the government by $77 million over five years because it did not offer most-favored-customer prices, as required by its contract. The IG referred the matter to the Justice Department for investigation. Sun has denied wrongdoing. When Sun’s contract came up for renewal in 2004, GSA entered into lengthy negotiations over its terms. Three contracting officers declined to exercise Sun’s option. The inspector general said Doan and her top managers, including Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Jim Williams, intervened. Committee investigators said the contracting officer, Mike Butterfield, remembered that Williams told him, “Lurita wants this contract awarded.” When Butterfield refused, he was replaced and the new contracting officer extended Sun’s contract on terms unfavorable to the government, according to the IG. Committee investigators said the new contracting officer was then granted a transfer she had been seeking and received a $1,400 bonus for her work on the Sun negotiations. Doan said she only told Williams to look into the contract. She said Sun was a large vendor and she feared the loss of its business and the fees GSA collected on purchases from the company. “I did not interfere,” she said. “I was simply exercising my right as administrator to know what was going on at the General Services Administration.” She said the terms of Sun’s contract were “a great deal for the American people.” Chairman Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, charged, “According to the inspector general, the administrator’s personal intervention resulted in a sweetheart deal for Sun that will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.” Davis said, “I think the evidence will show that Mrs. Doan didn’t negotiate a thing.” Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who has been investigating the Sun matter, asked GSA for more information about Doan’s involvement, if any, in the negotiations over extending the contract. Sole-Source Contract Doan personally signed an agreement directing a $20,000 sole-source contract to a company headed by a longtime friend and business associate, Edie Fraser, to publicize GSA’s efforts on behalf of minority- and woman-owned businesses. GSA’s general counsel objected, but he said Doan refused to cancel the contract. He eventually ordered it canceled without her approval. Shortly after she took office in May, Doan said she was embarrassed to learn that SBA was giving GSA a failing grade for its efforts to contract with women and minorities. As an African American woman, she said, the issue was important to her. She said Fraser and her company “are the unparalleled experts in the field of diversity studies.” But she acknowledged it was an error to sign the deal and pointed out that no money changed hands. The IG Doan blamed the inspector general’s office for leaking the allegations that were first reported in the Washington Post. She said the leaks were retaliation for her efforts to cut the IG’s budget as part of an agency-wide cost-cutting drive. “Bold new leadership was what the president wanted and that’s what he got at GSA,” she testified. “Change is difficult and not everyone wants to improve,” she added. “Some cling to the old and refused to cut spending and will do anything to protect bureaucratic turf.” Inspector General Brian Miller, who presented a 24-page brief outlining the allegations against Doan, said some of the proposed budget cuts would have hampered his ability to conduct contract audits that could save taxpayers money. “In sum, the administrator may have both violated basic rules of conduct for an agency head and worked to pare back the mechanisms for uncovering such violations,” he said in prepared testimony. “What may explain both is a lack of respect for both the law and law enforcement.” Republicans leaped to Doan’s defense. John Mica of Florida said, “It looks like a targeted attempt to go after a minority appointee.” He added: “I’m not liking the leaks and some of the things I’m hearing out of the IG. They targeted you.” Davis attacked Chairman Waxman’s public release of details about the allegations before the hearing. “First the verdict, then the trial,” he said.