TOPICS
TOPICS
Union opposes nomination of Treasury official to IRS board
A federal labor union is opposing the nomination of the Treasury Department's fiscal assistant secretary to serve as the designated representative of Internal Revenue Service employees on the agency's oversight board.
In an April 11 letter, the National Treasury Employees Union asked President Bush to withdraw the nomination of Kenneth Carfine to the board.
"IRS employees deserve a meaningful voice on this influential public-private body," said Colleen Kelley, NTEU president. "The clear language of the statute setting up the board refers to the appointment of either a rank-and-file IRS employee or employee representative. The president's nominee is neither and should not be confirmed for this position."
The nine-member oversight board, established by a 1998 law that restructured the IRS, plays an important role in reviewing IRS operations and policies, and in making recommendations for improvement, including those related to its budget. The Treasury secretary and the IRS commissioner both sit on the board.
The current occupant of the employee representative seat is Robert Tobias, director of public sector executive programs at American University and a former NTEU president. The union recommended Tobias' renomination.
"The statutory criterion for the seat I hold on the board is 'a representative of employees,'" Tobais said. "I am unaware of any experience the Treasury executive has representing employees."
The move marks the second time the president has tried to nominate a Treasury executive to the employee representative seat. In 2006, Bush nominated Donald Hammond, former fiscal assistant secretary for the slot. Hammond's nomination was withdrawn after several Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee wrote a letter to Bush opposing the nomination.
Kelley said Congress created an employee representative position on the board to ensure it received an accurate assessment of IRS operations.
"Congress' legislative intent that the IRS oversight board needs the viewpoint of IRS employees to enhance its decision-making is crystal clear," she said. "This nomination disregards the opinions of frontline federal employees."
The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Carfine's nomination. The committee did not return calls seeking comment.
COMMENTS
- I agree with Frank. Bush/his staff really messed up. The crazy thing is that Carfine is not a political appointee who needed to be pampered. He is a stand-up guy who worked his way up the ranks in Treasury's Financial Management Service. This situation must be an embarrassment to him! BTW, HR Specialist, you might as well ignore Dan. He is perpetually filled with hot air and no substance. Charleen Posted April 21, 2008 10:30 AM
- Dan, We've had this debate in the past. The law says the union is the exclusive representative of the Bargaining Unit-- so by saying you don't care what the union thinks is the equivalent of saying you don't care what employees think. Yes, there are union folks who believe what you have written and there are union folks who get beat up everyday by the Dans of the world for defending employee rights because managers like you don't care what their employees think, or how their employees work, or what their employees" working conditions are. The funny thing I've learned over the years is that such managers are the very first to jump and coomplain when they find themselves in the same pickle as their employees. So Dan- you always have such harsh criticism of Unions until of course you need the Union for your own issue. Beat them up Managers are always the very best recruiting and organizing tools for Unions- just ask our friends over at GAO. My comment stands- this President has had absolutely no wisdom when it comes to dealing with his employees in the federal sector. HR Specialist Posted April 17, 2008 8:09 AM
- Another useless law, why another "Advisory board"?? I really don't care what the union thinks I know its input already: . hire more people so we get more dues . we need more money . we want bigger offices . we want more time off Make sure the public doesn't call or bother us, we're here to draw a paycheck not work Dan ketter Posted April 16, 2008 11:19 AM
