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Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov] The Washington Post Wed 9/13/2017 4:00:37 PM Federal Insider: Interior's 'unusual' transfer of senior executives spurs official probe
Interior's `unusual' transfer of senior executives spurs officiai probe
By Joe Davidson
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testifies during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in June. (Michael Reynolds/EPA)
It doesn't smell right, so maybe an official probe will tell if it's rotten.
The Interior Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is examining the (extraordinary and politically suspect reassignment of dozens of Senior Executive Service tSES) members.
(The OIG's review is in response to a request from eight Democrats on the
(Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. They asked for the probe
after one Interior senior executive, Joel Clement, wrote a Washington Post
(article that said he was reassigne
I "retaliated against for speaking out
ipublicly about the dangers that climate change poses to Alaska Native
(communities."
(Nancy K. DiPaolo, an < W. spokesperson, said the assessment could take a (few months and that "you can expect the review to list out what facts are (found."
In a letter led by Sen. Maria Cantwell (Wash.), t
mocrats requested the
IG action because of "troubling newspaper reports of the arbitrary
reassignment of as many as 50 Senior Executive Service employees of the
(Department of the Interior. ... Any suggestion that the Department is
reassigning SES employees to force them to resign, to silence their voices,
(or to punish them for the conscientious performance of their public duties is
(extremely troubling and calls f<
isest examination."
On Monday, Cantwell welcomed the review, saying "there are serious
Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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questions that need to be answered about the treatment of public servants who have dedicated their careers to the Department of the Interior."
While reassignments of individual senior executives are encouraged to
provide broad experience, mass transfers of this magnitude are unheard of.
And given the scarcity of confirmed political appointees at the department,
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's reassignment of more than 20 percent of the
senior executive corps could be particularly disruptive. Out of 18
presidentially appointed slo
uiring Senate confirmation at Interior, only
three are filled, per data from The Washington Post/Partnership for Public
Service tracker. Of six assistant secretary offices, which work directly with
senior executives, none is filled.
A statement from Zinke's press office said "senior executives are the highest
paid employees in the federal government and signed up for
the SES knowing that they could be called upon to work in different positions
at any time. Conym re meant for the SES to be a mobile fore that are
capable of taking on different assignments to meet the needs of the
agency. Personnel moves among the Senior Executive Service are being
conducted to better serve the taxpayer and tl
partment's operations."
Clement said he hopes the OIG's review looks "closely at the motivations
behind the reassignments, the cost to taxpayers, and the impact on Interior's
mission and American health and safety. A thorouc
sstigation and report
could help restore the plummeting morale at an agency whose mission is
under attack by its own political leaders."
Clement has a separate whistleblower retaliation complaint that is being
Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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In a message to his members, Bill Valdez, president of the Senior Executives
and their
potentially corrosive effect on morale and career leadership effectiveness at
affected agencies. Even
signment is legal, that doesn't necessarily
question the
Blunter was Shelby Hallmark, a former chair of the association's Board of
Directors. An article, headlined "A Dangerous Moment for Career Senior
Executives" that he wrote for Government Executive, called the transfers "a
preemptive strike." Hallmark said the transfers "seemed designed to disrupt
the functioning of the agencies involved, and likely to drive as many
executives as possibl
ment or quiescence. Zinke could not
possibly have assessed the strengths and weaknesses of all these
executives."
Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public
Service
lod-government organization that studies federal workplace and
management issues, agreed that "mass transfers within the SES certainly is
'unusual" and posed "three I
estions":
i How well was the process managed?your dai|y guide t0 the energy and Does Interior have an organizational vision that is furthered by the
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It's not right, contend 15 law and public policy professors supporting Clement. "The reassignment of over one-fifth of all Senior Executives within an agency is me ' in to the spoils system that our country abandoned over a century ago," argued their letter, led by Joshua A. Geltzer and Robert Friedman, both with the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center.
The letter continued: "One can fairly anticipate that, if allowed to stand, these initial reassignments will denigrate both and, at the same time, embolden the current administration to continue to push the boundaries of acceptable personnel practices."
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Staff writer Ju/iet Ei/perin contributed to this report.
Read more:
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a tA ct ' ites `hostile environment' for federal government scientists. One speaks out about reprisals]
[Fm.g.scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.]
[Senate Democrats call for an investigation of climate scientist whistleblower complaint]
[Zinke moving dozens of senior Interior Department officials in shake up]
buyout maximum for federal employees from $25,000 to $40,000. By Eric Yoder Read more
video reflects pride and Trump counterpoint sometimes privately, sometimes for all to see. By Joe Davidson | Columnist Read more
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