THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010


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EZ SU THE FEDERAL WORKER CONVERSATIONS:GENEL.DORADO Better information, better decision-making BY LISA REIN GeneL.DodarowasconfirmedbytheSenatelast


week as the government’s eighth comptroller gen- eral, a job he has held in an acting capacity since 2008. The comptroller general runs the non-parti- san Government Accountability Office, which has served since 1921 as Congress’swatchdog.Dodaro is thefirstcareercivil servant tobeappointedtothe post, having risen through the ranks from an entry-level auditing job he started at the agency in 1973. The GAO’s staff of 3,200 produces more than


1,000 audits and reports each year on themanage- ment of the government. Its budget during the last fiscal yearwas$557million. Dodaro, 59, lives in Alexandria. He holds a


Gene L. Dodaro is theGAO’s new comptroller general.


bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lycoming College inWilliamsport, Pa.,which he attended on a basketball scholar- ship.APittsburghnative,he’sanavidSteelers fan.After theGAO,he says his passion is his family — his wife, Joan, three adult children and a 2-year-oldgrandson. TheWashingtonPost chattedwithhimWednesday.


Q.


How will your back- ground as a career civil servant help you navi- gate the agency’s rela-


tionshipwithCongress? A. Previous people who held


this job came from the executive branchandtheprivatesector.Cer- tainly I have a lot of insights into the aspirations of the staff, and knowledge of ourwork processes. Many people I’ve hired and pro- moted work here. Over the years, I’veworkedwithanumber of peo- ple in the executive branch, and with members of Congress from both parties. That’s the advantage of being a careerperson.


Q.What shouldthepublicknow about theGAOtheymightnot knowalready? A. They need to know that we


operate in the best interest of the American public. The taxpayer is at the heart of all we do. We’re trying to make the government more efficient and effective, and helpCongressmakeinformedpol- icy choices across a wide range of issues.We’renotonly anorganiza- tion of professionals, we’re inde- pendent, nonpartisan and fact- based.


Q.Withsuchavastarrayof fed- eralagencies,howdoyoude- cidewheretodevoteyour re- sources? A. We work for every standing


committee ofCongress, preparing strategic plans for serving Con-


gress and looking out five years at areas theywant us to focus on.We listen to their priorities. Most of our work is either statutory—for example, the law reforming Wall Street has 43 requirements for studies by the GAO. We’re re- quired to audit financial state- ments, the [TroubledAssetsRelief Program] law, the stimulus. We have hundreds of requests from chairmen and ranking members. We also have a hotlinewhere any- one can call in, plus areas where we address broad-based interests of Congress over time, such as natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the early stages of the wars inIraq andAfghanistan.


Q.What roledoyouexpect the GAOtoplay inthedebateover reducing thedeficitandthesize of thefederal government? A. I’m very encouraged by the


attention that’s being paid to the need to reduce the long- range deficit.Foryearswe’vebeentrying to get attention to this matter. Therewill be a lot of shared sacri- fices thatwill beneeded. We have a new requirement to


produce anannual reportonover- lap and duplication in the govern- ment.Forexample,we’vereported on $290 billion in back taxes the governmenthasnotcollected.The newmandatewas approved earli- er this year in legislation that in- creased the debt ceiling.We’re fo- cusing in on discretionary pro- grams first in defense and civilian


agencies. In future years, we’ll look at mandatory programs and tax expenditures. They don’t get the regular reviews and oversight they should.We’ll be helpingCon- gress understand the trade-offs and policy choices among various changes to programs and activi- ties.We don’tmake policy, butwe helpthepolicymakersunderstand the trade-offs.


Q.You’vegotacloselywatched “high-risk” listofagenciesand programs.Canyoudescribe this? A. We’ve been producing this


list since 1990. It’s one of the lon- gest-runninggoodgovernment ef- forts. We produce it at the begin- ningof eachnewCongress, tohelp them develop their oversight and legislative priorities. In 2009 we took the FAAoff the list but added three new areas, calling for better oversight ofmedicalproducts and financial regulation and recom- mending an inventory of toxic chemicals. The list started out addressing


fraud, waste and abuse, but it has evolvedto include areas inneedof broad-based transformation. In January there will be areas com- ing off and areas thatwe consider for new efforts. Currently there are 31 areas onthe list.


Q.Describethestaff thatworks for you. They’renot limitedto auditors, right? A.We have a highly profession-


al, multi-disciplinary workforce. We have financial auditors, and most people think of the GAO in that area. Butwe also have econo- mists,attorneys,publicpolicyspe- cialists, actuaries, civil engineers. We have asmany different profes- sional disciplines as any organiza- tion, and we need to. We have a chief scientist. We look at an in- creasingly sophisticated array of weapons and satellite systems, so we have experts there. The solu- tions to a lot of challenges in gov- ernment lie in the applications of science and technology, so we’re building our workforce in that area.


Q.Howis theGAOdifferent from theinspector generals that serveaswatchdogs for individ- ualagencies? A.We’reanindependentagency in the legislative branch, while


Immigration issues becoming a factor in Va. criminal cases


immigrant from B1


Court Judge Donald M. Haddock wrote in an order last year in revisiting the 1997 case of Em- manuelMorris. Morris’s case and a similar one


from Virginia Beach were argued before the Virginia Supreme Court lastmonth. Rulings in both are expected early next year. Pros- ecutorshope the state’shighcourt shuts the door on the use of an obscurewrit toreopenoldcases in amanner thatnotall judgesallow. Immigration lawyers want the door to stay open to stave off deportations of their clients, many of whomare in the country legally.


Effective counsel Judges and lawyers across the


country have scrambled to deal with the ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court’sMarch ruling in- Padilla v. Kentucky, which clari- fied a defendant’s Sixth Amend- ment right to counsel. The Supreme Court previously


ruled that the right to counsel is the right to effective counsel. An ineffective attorney is grounds for an appeal and, possibly, a new trial, the court said. Jose Padilla, a Hondurannativewhohadbeenin the country legally for nearly 40 years,wasadvisedbyalawyer that he didn’t have to worry about deportation when he pleaded guilty to smugglingmarijuana. JusticeJohnPaulStevenswrote


in the decision that “counselmust informher clientwhetherhisplea carries a risk of deportation. . . . Deportation is an integral part — indeed, sometimes the most im- portant part—of the penalty that may be imposed on noncitizen defendants who plead guilty to specified crimes.” A similar case involving a 2006


burglary conviction fromHarford County was argued before the Maryland Supreme Court this month. Defense attorneys in- vokedthePadillacase,hopingthat a guilty plea could bewithdrawn. State and federal courts are re-


vising their guilty plea forms — which must be signed by defen- dants—toindicate that thedefen- danthasbeenadvisedof thepossi- bleimmigrationramificationsofa conviction. And defense lawyers are studying immigration law to understand what crimes or sen- tencesmight lead to deportation. In Virginia, reopening cases, as


a rule, has been hard, especially after a guilty plea. State rules re- quire that most post-trial actions occur within 21 days or that they be handled as part of an appeal. And fewcriminal defense lawyers arefamiliarwithimmigrationlaw. Even immigrants with green


cards are subject to deportation if they commit a felony or misde- meanor that results in a year or more of prison time. Crimes of “moral turpitude” involving fraud or theft and crimes involving guns, drugs or domestic abuse are also grounds for deportation. Im- migrants sometimes agree to plea deals because their attorneys fail to “take that into account when they negotiatedwith the prosecu- tion,” said Rob Robertson, a Fair- faxlawyerwhopractices immigra- tionand criminal law. Immigration lawyers generally


enter the fray after the criminal case is long over. “These are peo- ple that don’t deserve to be ban- ished from the U.S. for a crime they’ve already servedthepunish- ment for,”Robertsonsaid. Even before Padilla, Virginia


lawyers were trying to reopen such cases using an English com- monlawwrit called“coramvobis,” which the courts interpret to mean“theerrorbeforeus.”Virgin- ia law allows the writ to be used “for any clerical error or error in fact for which a judgmentmay be reversed or corrected.” Some judges allow it in cases


affecting immigration status. Some don’t. In Arlington County in 2006, Circuit Court JudgeWil- liamT.NewmanJr. reduceda2001 sentence to less than a year, the standard for deportation. New- manwrote, “If thisCourthadbeen made aware of the fact that the


defendant’s “single criminal con- victioncouldresult indeportation without the possibility of discre- tionary relief, an alternative sen- tencemay have beenreached.” Loudoun General District


Court Judge Dean S. Worcester cited Newman’s opinion and Pa- dilla in an order last month re- openingthe2008caseof awoman who pleaded guilty to misde- meanor embezzlement, receiving a 12-month jail sentence. The de- fense attorney had misinformed thewomanof the consequencesof her plea, he wrote, “a fact not known to the Defendant or to the Courtwhenthe pleawasmade.” Rather than resentence the


woman, Worcester ordered that the case be handled as though the defendant had just been arrested. Fisherwas outraged. “I think it is the Common-


wealth’s Attorney’s obligation to hold the line on these types of arguments and rulings,” Fisher said. “When an extremely ancient legal procedure, which is limited to correcting factual or clerical errors, is used in this fashion, it turns the legal systemonits ear.”


TheMorris case The state Supreme Court’s rul-


ing in the Morris case should tip the scales. Morris, of Alexandria, was a refugee from Liberia who arrived in America in 1993. In 1997,headmittedstealing$15,000 as part of a ring of Sears employ- ees who bought sale items and returned themfor full credit. Morris,whohadagreencardby


then,was chargedwith grand lar- ceny. An Alexandria public de- fender told himthat his immigra- tionstatuswouldn’tbe affectedby a plea to a reduced charge of petty larceny. Haddock sentenced him to a year,with 11months suspend- ed, and 30 days on work release. The judge also ordered thatMor- rismake restitution,whichhedid. Morris subsequently became a


pastor, married, moved to North Carolina and raised four children. Heappliedforcitizenshipin2004. In 2005, he learned that he was


they’re in the executive branch. Their scope is within individual departments and agencies. Our scope is broader. We coordinate our work with them. They have more resourcesdevotedtoinvesti- gative work, whereas most of our work is performance audits, where we look at how programs are working and how they can work more effectively. We some- times refer things to the inspector generals, and they’ll report them to the JusticeDepartment.


Q.Does your staffeverhit road- blocks gettingaccess toinfor- mationtheyneedtoconduct theiraudits? A.We have subpoena powers, if


need be, for federal contractors. From the agencies we generally get very good cooperation. Some- times we have access issues, though. There’s a bill in Congress that passed theHouse but not the Senate that would have clarified our legal standing . . . if we’re not able to gain access. This came up afterwebrought litigationagainst [former vice president] Dick Cheney to get access to his energy task force. A district court ruled thatwedidn’thave legal standing. We hope this bill passes the next Congress.


Q. Have some administrations worked better with your staff thanothers? A. I’d saywe have a pretty good


record, regardless of the adminis- tration, in getting our recommen- dations implemented. Eighty per- cent get adopted within four years. That’s been relatively con- sistent over time.


Q.You’vesaidoneof your goals as comptroller general is toim- provethegovernment’sability tohelpAmericansunderstand their financesbetter.Howwill youdothis? A. One thing we’re doing is


studying various financial literacy programs offered by the govern- ment, to find out which are more effective than others.Ourworld is becoming more complex, with complex retirement systems and investment choices. One of the things the federal government is always committedto ispromoting better information to empower people tomake better choices. reinl@washpost.com


subject todeportation. In2008,an immigration judge told him that he was an “aggravated felon” and mustbedeported,Haddockwrote inhis order. Immigration lawyer Jennifer S.


Varughese fileda coramvobismo- tion with Haddock. After a July 2009 hearing, Haddock reduced Morris’s sentence by a day.Depor- tation proceedings have since beendismissed,Robertsonsaid. But if the Virginia Supreme


Court rules thatHaddockusedthe writ improperly,Morris’s original


PROSPECTS Derrick T. Dortch


Check the 2011 budget requests. R


ecently someone asked me what I have been reading for pleasure. Not an un-


usual question, but I laughed at the thought. My answer: “The 2011 Budgets of Federal Agen- cies.” I know, I know. The material


isn’t going tomake Oprah’s Book Club. But, honestly, reading the agency budgets offers special insight into government priori- ties. And here’s a little secret: It’s


also a great place to find federal jobs. In each budget justification


submitted to Congress, you get to see what an agency says it needs, as well any additional hiring requests to carry out its work. Here are a few examples. Under the Department for


Health and Human Services, the 2011 President’s Budget requests $725 million for the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services, a $28million increase over fiscal 2010. Of this total, $592 million will support the hiring of 50 new full-time employees. Under the Department of


Homeland Security’s 2011 budget request, the FederalAirMarshals have requested an increase of $85 million for additional per- sonnel. An increase of $71 mil- lion would help fund 523 posi- tions within explosion detection canine teams. Also, an increase of $20 million would fund the hiring of 350 behavior detection officers to further enhance the Transportation Security Admin- istration’s program called Screening Passengers by Obser- vation Techniques. DHS has also workedwith theOffice of Person- nel Management to attain new authority to recruit and hire up to 1,000 cyber-security profes- sionals across the department over the next three years to help fulfill DHS’s broad mission to protect the nation’s cyberinfra- structure, systems and networks. For the Justice Department to


strengthen national security and counter terrorism threats, the budget requests $300.6 million. The request includes 440 addi- tional positions, including 126 agents and 15 lawyers. To enforce


sentence would stand. He could againface deportation. “We have consistently opposed


thesewrits,”AlexandriaCommon- wealth’s Attorney S. Randolph Sengel said. “If commission of a crime lands you in a deportation hearing, deal with it there. Don’t come crying back to a local court years later, asking . . . to alter the record . . . and pretend you were never foundguilty or sentencedto serve time inthe first place.” jackmant@washpost.com


Seeking a government job?


immigration laws, the depart- ment is requesting an $11million program increase, including 125 positions—31 of themlawyers. You can read an agency’s bud-


get proposal on itsWeb site. So once you get the informa-


tion, what’s the best way tomake use of it? First, begin looking on USA-


JOBS, the agency Web site and other places to seewhether these positions are advertised. If so, submit your application. But many of those jobs may


not be listed for hiring purposes yet, because the federal govern- ment has not been fully funded and won’t be until the new Congress convenes in 2011. Don’t worry if you don’t see


the positions advertised, howev- er. Focus on what is being re- quested. Some of these agencies are quite specific and state that they want scientists, lawyers, investigators, acquisitions spe- cialists. If you are in one of these specialized areas and you have the background to support an agency’s mission, then you need to begin a targeted job search in that agency. Or if an agency is saying it needs support or pro- gramstaff that includes adminis- trative, financial and technology positions, the key is to find out what’s needed. Contact the human resources


office in agencies you’re interest- ed in and talk about coming openings. Second, check your network for any contacts within the agency you are targeting. I have found that you will be surprised how many people are connected to various branches of the government through friends, family or a churchmember. Third, if an agency is planning


to attend a career fair,make sure you’re there, too. Fourth, make sure you develop a targeted re- sume packed with your success stories. Good luck on the hunt. Me? I’m getting back to my


budget reading. I amon page 114, and it’s getting interesting.


Dortch is a federal jobs expert. The Prospects column runs every second and fourth Thursday of the month.


The Federal Page Stockpiling checks


Although this year marked the most expensive midterm campaign in U.S. history,federal lawmakers and ex-candidates still have almost $400 million left in the bank. Influence Industry, A13


Worried about Medicare With the first baby boomers becoming old enough to qualify for Medicare starting Jan. 1, many fear that they won’t be able to rely on it, a new poll finds. A13


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