FederalDaily.com > HUD Secretary’s Contract Comments Stir Controversy

FederalDaily - May 12, 2006

HUD Secretary’s Contract Comments Stir Controversy

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson’s comment that HUD withdrew a contract offer from a contractor who said he doesn’t like the president has stirred controversy. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and others called for an internal investigation of HUD contracting practices. Jackson’s comments, made during an April 28 Real Estate Executive Council meeting, were first reported on May 5 by The Dallas Business Journal. In a May 9 letter to the HUD inspector general, Lieberman wrote, “In order to assure the American people that our procurement laws and our government are not being administered in an arbitrary and capricious manner, I ask that you immediately look into this incident.” Jackson has since issued an apology for the comments. “During my tenure, no contract has ever been awarded, rejected, or rescinded due to the personal or political beliefs of the recipient,” Jackson said. Despite the apology, National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley was still concerned by the incident. She said the remarks were a “clear implication that to secure a contract for government work from this administration, you’d better be a supporter of President Bush.”

Bush Increases Number of Political Appointees

During the first five years of the Bush administration, the number of political appointees in the federal government increased by more than 300, according to a report released by Democrats on the House Committee on Government Reform. In addition, the report found that the number of Schedule C employees—hired without “public transparency or Congressional approval”—increased by 400, or 33 percent, from 2000 to 2005. The Bush administration, the report noted, reversed a trend during the Clinton years. The Clinton administration reduced the overall number of political appointees by 17 percent, the report said. The full report is available at www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20060503160909-97328.pdf.

Union Reps Win Telecommuting Rights

An arbitrator overruled a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy decision and affirmed union officials’ right to perform representational duties at home via telecommuting, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced Tuesday. According to the union, USDA had rescinded a long-standing agreement that allowed union officials to conduct union work from home, arguing that telecommuting was only allowed for “agency duties.” However, AFGE successfully argued that the department could not unilaterally cancel an agreement that had been in place for 20 years. The arbitrator who heard the case determined that USDA must negotiate such changes, AFGE said. Andres Grajales, an AFGE attorney, stated, “This decision clearly opens the door for other federal bargaining units to negotiate agreements with their agencies.”

NTEU Wants DHS’ MaxHR Funding Pulled

The $41.7 million requested in the 2007 budget for the Department of Homeland Security’s new MaxHR personnel system should be redirected to other personnel needs, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley said in a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. NTEU, in a May 10 press release, noted that the DHS budget request represents a 133 percent increase for a new personnel system deemed “illegal” in court, while only recommending $32 million for additional port security personnel. “NTEU urges you to fund [the Customs and Border Protection] frontline security and trade enforcement needs before spending any additional taxpayer dollars on an undeveloped, untested, legally-compromised new DHS personnel and pay system,” Kelley wrote.