Senators Press for Answers on GSA Chief

Move over, Al Gonzales, there’s a new campaign for the resignation of a Bush appointee.

General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan shocked the world last month when she gave a performance at a House hearing that was enough to make even Gonzales cringe.

In January, Karl Rove’s deputy, Scott Jennings, arrived at the GSA to give a briefing on Republican political prospects. After the presentation, Doan reportedly asked aloud what the GSA could do with its considerable taxpayer-funded assets “to help our candidates.” When asked about the briefing at the hearing, Doan pleaded a fuzzy memory.

Ever since the briefing was revealed, Democrats have been vainly trying to get answers from the White House about this and other presentations. So today, 25 senators wrote the White House, demanding answers. You can read the letter here. “The Executive Branch is not an extension of the Republican National Committee,” it reads, “nor of any political party. Those who treat it as such must be held accountable.”

Also today, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) called for Doan’s resignation — because of the presentation… and a host of other reasons enumerated below the fold.

Any guesses on how long it is before Doan joins that“pretty small number” of administration figures in whom Bush has to express confidence?

From Wyden’s press release:

Other alleged ethics or legal violations include:

— Doan’s overruling and removal of several career GSA contract negotiators who questioned the GSA’s awarding of a contract to Sun Microsystems. Another contract negotiator was brought in, approved the contract and received a location transfer, which previously had been denied. Critics charge that Sun gives private customers lower prices than taxpayers and they that estimate the awarding of the contract cost taxpayers more than $5 million in wasteful spending.

— Doan’s attacks on the GSA’s Office of the Inspector General, which has included drastic budget cuts and her referring to the IG’s investigators as terrorizing her. Individual Offices of the Inspector General independently investigate waste, abuse and fraud in federal agencies.

— Doan’s participation in a January 26, 2007, political briefing for GSA employees on how the GSA could promote Republican congressional candidates in 2008. Speakers allegedly included Doan and J. Scott Jennings, the White House deputy political affairs director. The federal Hatch Act of 1939 prevents federal government and agency employees from using their jobs for political purposes.

— A $20,000 no-bid contract Doan awarded to a close personal friend for a 24-page report on diversity even though the GSA has its own communications and public relations staff. By law, the contract should have been competitively bid.