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Return to Article: Questions arise over GSA chief and contracting irregularities

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  The greatest harm occurs not when people like Ms. Doan act, but when the lowest public/civil servant interacts directly with the public, interpreting rules and regulations rigidly and using the bureaucracy as a shield. This is especially heinous when the system allows for discretion and professional judgment on the part of the employee. Ms. Doan's zealous discharge of her duties should be lauded, not maligned. If an employee sees fraud, waste or abuse and reports it, they are protected as whistleblowers. If a manager sees waste and abuse and they act, they ought not be vilified for it.

  Her only indiscretion is that because they are friends and she should have recused herself from the contracting process. That doesn't mean that her friend is intentionally left out, purely because of the relationship. Death by 1,000 cuts, and it is no wonder why the best minds think twice before agreeing to become appointees.

  J. Norton Phillips Jr. Posted March 28, 2007 10:45 AM
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  You bet it happens every day. Right now Rumsfeld is still working for the DoD as an "unpaid consultant." He was fired -- he should be out of the DoD completely. No access to information, no access to the Pentagon and with no influence over what the Pentagon does. But, I guess this is one more example of taking care of your friends by allowing them to work behind the scenes so the public doesn't know he's still the one making the decisions.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 25, 2007 10:52 AM
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  "The head of the General Services Administration found herself embroiled in a new controversy Friday in the wake of a report that she attempted to award a no-bid $20,000 contract to a longtime friend. " What's new here?

  The new OPM rule about getting rid of criminals should apply here and she should be thrown out of her job and any other government job! Ain't going to happen! We couldn't expect her to ignore her friends!

  taxpayer Posted January 24, 2007 7:16 AM
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  Same song and same story. As a federal employee, I can tell you that this goes on every day and is getting worse by the day. That doesn't make it right. If I get this right the only reason the GSA chief didn't do anything wrong is because she got caught before she could break the law. It makes you wonder how much she has done that no one knows about, what kind of person is in the job and why Bush can't find an honest friend to put in the job. Women helping women seems to be the fad nowadays. But what can you expect when you have the leaders at the top behaving in the same manner?

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 23, 2007 7:43 AM
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  The Army Procurement Analyst's comments speak volumes re: the "go along to get along" attitude so prevalent in senior agency management. Check out the Army's at-all-costs defense of its bloated FCS program bureaucracy and Raytheon. This cronyism is exactly why program managers, project officers, squadron, group and wing commanders (civilian and military) on up should be prohibited from post-government employment for at least two years after retiring. Slam the revolving door shut!

  Contracting Officer, USAF

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 22, 2007 2:54 PM
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  What if the company that Ms. Doan wanted to have the contract was an excellent -- maybe the best -- company in the field of corporate diversity education. Would the government have been better served with a second-rate company taking our money?

  This smells of the GSA IG (or other unnamed federal officials) crying to the local newspaper when their turf was threatened.

  Also, if you were to chastise every commander, administrator or executive who had their own contractor they wanted to get work, there would be little time to do anything else. The new federal Department of Chastisement would be larger than the Department of Homeland Security.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 22, 2007 12:01 PM
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  Gee - surprise, surprise! The GOP's "rising star" seems less that than one who's possibly headed to 24-36 months in the federal pen if she doesn't watch her six.

  Does anyone now wonder why Ms. Doan resorted to calling her IG agents and auditors "terrorists"? Maybe it's because they were hot on her filthy little trail of cronyism and back-door deals?

  Rep. Waxman ought not only to hold hearings. He might well be advised to refer this to Justice Department for a criminal inquiry. Oh, I'm sorry, this is the same Justice Department that Alberto Gonzales runs -- the attorney general who thinks habeas corpus is a myth.

  Never mind!

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 19, 2007 8:12 PM