FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
KLMNO
R THE FEDERAL WORKER Nod to national security concerns advances bill to protect whistleblowers
tections are heating up, now that an agreement in principle on how to treat government spies has been reached. The concerns of intelligence
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and national security agencies have obstructed a bill that would provide protections for employ- ees who expose waste, fraud or abuse in government programs. Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-
Mo.), vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, held up the legislation because of doubts expressed by agency officials. They worried that their opera- tions might be compromised if staff members’ complaints about retaliation for whistleblowing were aired in court. The House has twice passed
legislation that would allow fed- eral employees to sue in open court agencies that retaliate against them for exposing im- proper actions or policies. But the Senate balked at the
court provision for national secu- rity workers. Under a tentative scenario be-
ing negotiated by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), claims of re- taliation against national securi- ty workers would be handled ad- ministratively, rather than in court. It would be up to the Oba- ma administration to draw up the procedures. "We have been working to pro- vide whistleblower protections in a similar manner to employees of the FBI," Grassley said. "We
fforts to pass long-delayed legislation to strengthen federal whistleblower pro-
FEDERAL DIARY Joe Davidson
hope to have an agreement soon that can be presented to the full Senate for consideration. “ The FBI procedures, however,
don’t fully please all ad- vocates for stronger whistleblower rights. The administrative remedy raises a point of contention. Some whistleblower advo- cates prefer a structure that does not force whistleblowers to have their cases heard by an arm of the same agency they complained about. One option would be legislative language that instructs the Obama ad- ministration to make strong due process rights part of the admin- istrative process. Nonetheless, the ad-
get this reform completed,” said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Proj- ect. “The jury is out on whether the effort will succeed.” There are good signs, however.
Sen. Christopher S. Bond
The White House and congres- sional Democrats and Republi- cans are in agreement that whistleblowers need greater pro- tection. Devine is one of almost 400 people, representing a broad va- riety of organizations and busi- nesses, who signed an open letter this month to President Obama and members of Congress in support of “strong, comprehensive whistleblower rights.” Many of the signers seem to have nothing in common. In addition to organizations that have been in the forefront of the effort to strengthen whistleblower rights, the list includes Green Plate Catering. Why? Because food compa- nies have good reason to support whistle- blower rights for food safety inspectors. “We’re very con-
vocates are cautiously optimistic about the progress that has been made in a nearly dec- ade-long effort to strengthen whistleblower protections. “We’re excited that there has been a good faith commitment and a marathon of hard work to
Sen. Charles E. Grassley
cerned about the quali- ty of food that hits the table,” said Kit Wood, Green Plate’s owner. The letter contends
that whistleblower issues are nearly universal: “It does not matter whether the issue is eco- nomic recovery, prescription drug safety, environmental pro-
whistleblowers. Whistleblowers have won three cases out of 202 since October 1994 when Con- gress last strengthened the law.” Statistics such as those have led to “a major push to try to get something through,” said Ste- phen M. Kohn, president of the National Whistleblowers Center. “There is a consensus that feder- al employees need better whistle- blower protection.”
federaldiary@washpost.com
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Almost 400 people, representing a broad variety of organizations, signed an open letter in support of whistleblower rights.
tection, infrastructure spending, national health insurance, or for- eign policy. We need conscien- tious public servants willing and able to call attention to waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of the taxpayers.” Securing the right to a jury trial in federal court for federal whistleblowers — apart from na- tional security workers — has long been a top priority of those who point to severe weaknesses in the current level of protection. Avenues now available to whistleblowers are largely inef- fective. “Unfortunately, every month
that passes has very tangible consequences for federal govern- ment whistleblowers, because none have viable rights,” the let- ter continued. “Last year, on average, 16 whistleblowers a month lost initial decisions from administrative hearings at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Since 2000, only two out of 54 whistleblowers have re- ceived final rulings in their favor from the MSPB. “The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the only court which can hear whistleblower appeals of administrative decisions, has consistently ruled against
Immigration policies sparking tensions within ICE Obama administration
stances on detentions face internal resistance
By Andrew Becker As it poises for further immi-
gration initiatives, U.S. Immigra- tion and Customs Enforcement is struggling with festering internal divisions between political ap- pointees and career officials over how to enforce laws and handle detainees facing deportation. Under the Obama administra- tion, the Department of Home- land Security has shifted its focus away from the worksite raids and sweeps employed during George W. Bush’s presidency to deporting more criminals and creating less prisonlike detention settings. But ICE, a branch of DHS, is facing in- tensified resistance from agency middle managers and attorneys, and the union that represents im- migration officers. The internal conflict has grown increasingly public over ICE’s plans, among them to expand a risk assessment tool to guide agents on detention decisions, cut down on transfers of detained im- migrants, and open more “civil” detention facilities — what field directors call “soft” detention. Immigration officers say the
new measures limit their enforce- ment efforts and the revamped lockups will compromise their safety. In June, their union took the unprecedented step of issuing a vote of no confidence in the agency’s director, John Morton, and the official overseeing deten- tion reform, Phyllis Coven. Months before that, the 24 field
managers who oversee detention and deportation sent a memoran- dum to Morton that challenged a number of recommended chang- es. Current and former ICE attor- neys in New York, Houston and other offices nationwide say they are angry that they have been in- structed to drop efforts to deport some immigrants. “We can’t find a supervisor or
manager that supports Morton or his initiatives,” said Chris Crane, president of the American Feder- ation of Government Employees’ National Council 118, the union that issued the no-confidence vote. Many of the measures, set to be implemented in the coming weeks and months, may not re- quire a conversation with the union, but ICE leadership seeks the union’s viewpoint on issues tied most closely to immigration reform, said Beth Gibson, ICE’s assistant deputy director. “We are at the beginning of a big push,” Gibson said in an inter- view. “We are about to come up on a series of things I see as incred- ibly powerful pieces of reform.” Crane said the union wants to
negotiate over implementation, which could delay some changes. The criticisms of ICE illustrate the obstacles the Obama adminis-
“We’re excited that there has been a good faith commitment and a marathon of hard work to get this reform
completed.” — Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project
Online federal benefits calculators
ry, executive director of the pro- immigration-reform group Amer- ica’s Voice, said ICE is run by “a bunch of political appointees on top of a rogue agency.” Doris Meissner, who as INS commissioner in the 1990s saw similar tensions, said the union’s message is a “severe internal pushback.” “It is a barometer of how diffi-
BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST
tration must navigate in selling the changes to the ranks while trying to appear both tough on enforcement and serious about fixing the nation’s immigration laws. The friction between the agency’s leadership and managers tasked with instituting the chang- es reflects the nation’s split over immigration. A senior White House official, acknowledging the rift between ICE leadership and boots-on-the- ground employees, said the union’s unusual posture of ad- dressing policy sent a message consistent with groups that es- pouse tougher immigration re- strictions. “The call from the left is John
Morton is too tough. The guy is leading the effort to remove more people from the country than ever before,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. “That others say he’s soft on enforce- ment strikes me as remarkable. At the end of the day, it’s about sound law-and-order principles, not decisions based on the politi- cal wind.” Several current and former im-
migration officers, senior manag- ers and attorneys, however, said in interviews that the agency’s leadership regularly changes course on policy, apparently based on the political climate. At- torneys point to an ongoing re- view of pending cases and the dis- missal of deportation charges against some immigrants without serious criminal records. Michael D. Rozos Sr., who re-
tired May 1 as one of the agency’s most senior field managers, said he left his position in Miami “sev- eral years early” out of frustration that the agency was moving back- ward toward the years of the Im- migration and Naturalization Service. The defunct agency be- came part of ICE when DHS was created in 2002. “I see a repeat of what the INS
was like, which was chasing its tail,” Rozos said. “They’re trying
The union representing immigration officers issued a vote of no confidence ICE director John Morton. Janice Kephart of the Center
to go in every direction and end up going in circles.”
Rozos was one of the 24 field
managers who sent a 19-page memo, obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting, that out- lined objections to an October re- port widely adopted as the deten- tion-policy playbook. They also complained that their input was never sought. “The Report seems to advocate
that an entirely ‘soft’ detention system would be the ideal,” the memo states. “In reality, there is a significant population with crimi- nal convictions, arrest histories, gang affiliation, psychological is- sues, drug abuse, etc., and these individuals pose a flight risk or se- curity risk to ICE officers, other detainees and, at times, them- selves.” The “soft” detention facilities will house low-risk detainees without criminal records in less restrictive settings while giving more access to recreation. One of the new civil detention sites, the James Musick Facility, is a non-working farm near Los An- geles, Gibson said. Other lockups will open in San Francisco, Mi- ami, Chicago and elsewhere to cut down on transfers. ICE spokesman Brian P. Hale said the agency remains commit- ted to reform, despite the internal rumblings. “There are significant numbers that are in agreement and support our effort,” Hale said. “Our challenge and ultimate goal is to stay focused and successfully implement our goals.”
ICE might not be alone in fac- ing a backlash. Sen. Chuck Grass- ley (R-Iowa) in July released a leaked draft memo from ICE’s sis- ter agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which out- lined administrative remedies if a legislative fix falls short. The memo angered Republi- cans, who said it proved the Oba- ma administration wants to cir- cumvent Congress to provide am- nesty to thousands of illegal immigrants.
for Immigration Studies, which advocates for immigration re- strictions, said agents are frus- trated because they feel they aren’t allowed to do their jobs to fully enforce the law. Frank Shar-
cult it is to make change and how they have to really work it in- ternally as well as externally,” add- ed Meissner, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a non- partisan Washington think tank. Though ideological differences pose a challenge, they are not in- surmountable, Meissner said, adding that she expects ICE em- ployees to follow the new policies. The dissension, fostered by the country’s polarization over immi- gration, is a product of legislative inaction, she said. “Congress hasn’t moved for- ward with the legislation that the administration envisioned, which puts ICE in the middle of the fray,” she said. “The only thing happen- ing with immigration in the coun- try is enforcement.”
Andrew Becker is a reporter for the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Federal retirement:
opm.gov/ retire/tools/calculators/ballpark/
menu.asp This calculator projects retire- ment benefits under federal retire- ment systems. It also has links for calculating how much of an annu- ity will be tax-free and how much tax to have withheld.
Thrift Savings Plan:
tsp.gov/ calc This site has calculators allow-
ing participants in the 401(k)-style retirement savings program to project future account balances; based on differing investment lev- els and rates of return; to deter- mine loan payments if they bor- row against their accounts; and to see how an account balance would translate into income after separation, among various other functions.
Note: Eligible employees can enroll or make changes in the TSP or FLTCIP programs anytime, but other programs have restrictions on enrollment and changing coverage.
— Eric Yoder The Fed Page
Ash is everywhere A study by environmental groups says water in 21 states is being contaminated by ash from coal- fired power plants. A18
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