Thread: Darrell Issa: Energy Department Whistleblowers Gagged

Darrell Issa: Energy Department Whistleblowers Gagged

Whistleblowers warned against cooperating with congressional investigators

BY: Lachlan Markay
July 24, 2013 1:40 pm

Energy Department officials prohibited subordinates from speaking with congressional investigators about their probe into illicit hiring practices and related whistleblower retaliation allegations, according to the lead investigator.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, revealed in a letter obtained by theWashington Free Beacon that the deputy secretary of energy issued the gag order following a scathing inspector general report last week.

The report revealed that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a division of the Department of Energy (DOE), had violated DOE hiring guidelines in ways that disadvantaged military veterans.

BPA employees who cooperated with the IG’s investigation, the report found, were fired, suspended, or otherwise sanctioned.

Issa revealed in a Wednesday, July 17, letter that Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman “verbally instructed Elliot Mainzer, the individual [Poneman] chose to serve as acting administrator of BPA, that no BPA employees were to talk with anyone regarding these allegations, including congressional investigators.”

Issa suggested that such a gag order could be illegal.

“Obstructing a congressional investigation is a crime,” he noted. “Additionally, denying or interfering with employees’ rights to furnish information to Congress is against the law.”

Transparency advocates raised similar concerns.

“Any attempt to ‘gag’ employees from communicating with Congress would be a gross violation of law,” said Stephen M. Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center, in an email.

“It is highly illegal for any federal agency to attempt to prevent employees or contractors from communicating whistleblower concerns with Members of Congress or an Inspector General,” Kohn said. “If true, this conduct by government officials would be intolerable.”

Oversight Committee spokesman Ali Ahmad told the Oregonian that a senior BPA official had informed the committee of Poneman’s gag order.

Issa requested a response from Poneman by noon on Wednesday. The committee could not confirm whether it had received a response by press time.
“BPA employees have the right to talk with Congress and to provide Congress information free from interference by the Department of Energy,” he wrote. “These employees also have a right to be free from fear of retaliation for sharing information with Congress.”

A BPA spokesman referred questions to DOE’s press office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
http://freebeacon.com/darrell-issa-e...lowers-gagged/

BPA violated hiring practices, retaliated against whistleblowers, DOE says


The Department of Energy says Bonneville Power Administration violated hiring practices by not giving preferences to veterans for hiring, and that it retaliated against whistleblowers who called it to the attention of management. (Bruce Ely, The Oregonian)
By Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian

on July 16, 2013


Bill Drummond

The Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General stunned the region's energy industry again Tuesday when it released apreliminary review that found widespread violations of federal hiring practices and possible retaliation against whistleblowers by management at Bonneville Power Administration.BPA employees and customers were already reeling after Monday's unexplained suspension of Administrator Bill Drummond andChief Operating Officer Anita Decker. The Energy Department has yet to comment on or even acknowledge the personnel move, though the executives were reportedly escorted from BPA's Lloyd District headquarters.

Drummond was only appointed administrator in February after the retirement of longtime Administrator Steve Wright. He had previously served as BPA's deputy administrator since mid 2011. BPA Deputy Administrator Elliot Mainzer was appointed as acting administrator on an interim basis.

Monday's suspension of Drummond and Decker, along with the DOE's sudden urgency to tackle the matter, stem from recent alleged retaliatory actions by agency leadership against employees who reported problems.
The DOE, which is Bonneville's governing agency, did not return calls seeking comment. The inspector general's report did not say whether Drummond or Decker were directly implicated in retaliatory actions against employees.

"We don't comment on ongoing reviews," said Tara Porter, and OIG spokeswoman. "At this point, or management review speaks for itself."


eAnita Decker, BPA COO

BPA watchers have heard rumblings for months that the agency's hiring and human resources practices were under review, particularly its application of hiring preferences for veterans. The OIG report released Tuesday said that review was prompted by an anonymous complaint in June 2012.But according to the OIG review and additional internal documents obtained by The Oregonian, the agency's problems with hiring are far more systemic. The fallout could require a remediation plan to ensure that all staffing decisions from 2010 to present adhere to merit system principles and avoid violations of civil service law.

The Office of Personnel Management's review of the agency turned up widespread and fundamental violations of federal hiring practices. According to documents obtained by The Oregonian, OPM evaluator Connie Langston wrote to BPA and DOE staff in late May saying the agency was vulnerable to legal challenges, violations of merit system principles and prohibited personnel practices. She listed more than two dozen BPA human resources specialists who were decertified and said staff "lack competencies in most fundamentals of Federal staffing."

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Continuing coverage of BPA Administrator Bill Drummond and chief operating officer Anita Decker

She recommended that DOE and BPA review all staffing actions taken from the beginning of the review period to present to ensure they adhered to merit system principles and contained no errors or legal violations. She said the review should include the position announced, the confirmation of the qualification decisions, verfication of proper referral decisions and validation of final selection.The OIG report released Tuesday confirmed those earlier findings and said there were prohibited personnel practices in 95 of BPA's 146 competitive recruitments -- 65 percent of those conducted -- between November 2010 to June 2012. The practices included "modifying the best qualified category after all applications were received," which excluded some veterans from selection. By law, veterans receive preference in federal hiring.

The DOE moved in June to suspend BPA hiring and promotion authority, as BPA apparently took no action to notify affected applicants or to address the impact of inapproriate hiring once it was disclosed to human resources and confirmed by independent sources, the review said.

Instead, the OIG's review said it received complaints from BPA staff that they were being disciplined for communicating problems to BPA management, to the Office of Inspector General and to DOE Human Capital officials. The report confirmed that several key personnel had been subject to or proposed for a range of adverse actions, including firing.

Last Wednesday, the Energy Department ordered Drummond to take no disciplinary actions against HR employees, to suspend any actions already taken, and reinstate any employees put on leave or in line for firing. Drummond was also ordered to tell staff that they were free to cooperate fully with the OIG review without fear of retaliation.

Late last week, Drummond was forced to cancel a meeting with tribal groups after he was called to Washington D.C. for a last-minute meeting.

The OIG's management review said the primary reason for the urgency was the retaliatory actions. "These actions have a potentially chilling effect on various aspects of our work and, as such, jeopardize our ability to effectively complete our review of the circumstances surrounding inappropriate Bonneville hiring practices."

BPA is the largest utility in the region and a huge player in the Northwest economy. It sells power from 31 hydroelectric dams and a nuclear plant, and operates much of the region's transmission system. Public power customers are always concerned about federal encroachment on regional control of the agency. They were also stunned that Drummond and Decker, who are widely liked and respected, would be involved in such decisions.
"Customers are anxious to know more about this and the next steps," said Scott Corwin, executive director of the Public Power Council, which represent public utilities who buy power from BPA. "What really are these actions and who was supposedly taking them. This is a drastic move and it needs better explanation."

A statement from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chair of the Senate Energy Committee, said the veterans preference in federal hiring is non-negotiable, and retribution against whistleblowers can't be tolerated.

A news release from Sen Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the veterans affairs committee, said she was concerned by reports of discriminatory practices towards veterans, and disturbed that BPA leadership took punitive actions. She had spoken directly to Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman, who sent out Monday's email informing BPA employees of the interim appointments at the agency. And she said she supported the DOE decision to suspend any disciplinary actions by BPA against whistleblowers.
– Ted Sickinger
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/i...l#incart_river