Federal Office Handling Whistleblower Claims Under the Microscope

Stephen Barr of the Washington Post reports on the following troubling reports coming from the Office of Special Counsel, the federal agency designated to handle federal whistleblower and partisan influence claims:

The investigation has run for two years, and it's possible the Bush administration will have left office before the charges and countercharges are resolved.

The saga involves Scott J. Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, the small agency that handles federal employee whistle-blower cases and investigates improper political activities on government property.

Bloch, a Bush appointee, has been accused of retaliating against employees who disputed his policies, unnecessarily reorganizing his office to try to run off critics, and arbitrarily dismissing complaints submitted by federal workers to reduce a backlog of claims.

In 2005, a group of anonymous employees, joined by public-interest organizations, filed a complaint against Bloch, which the White House referred to the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management for investigation. Bloch has denied the allegations.

The last thing the federal employee whistleblowing system needs is a crooked agency that is supposed to be protecting federal employees. I hate to be cynical (not really), but this would be the coup de grace for an already broken system.

Hat Tip:  Elaine Mittleman

PS