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As probes continue into whether electoral briefings by White House officials at federal agencies resulted in illegal use of government resources for partisan politics, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Government Management Subcommittee Thursday will examine whether the scope of the act that governs political activity by federal employees is sufficient.

A subcommittee staffer said the hearing will likely focus less on the White House briefings than on how that law -- the Hatch Act -- is enforced.

The staffer said that as the 2008 election approaches, the hearing will remind federal officials to stay out of elections while on the job.

Special Counsel Scott Bloch, whose office is reviewing material gathered from agencies in its investigation of political briefings, is unlikely to testify, an aide said.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Federal Financial Management Subcommittee Tuesday is scheduled to review the Pentagon's efforts to improve accounting and business operations.

The hearing will focus on Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Sept. 18 order that Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England's portfolio include acting as Chief Management Officer. Congressional critics and Government Accountability Office Comptroller General David Walker, who is scheduled to testify, have pushed for the Pentagon to create a full-time CMO.

In the House, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday will likely take issue with the Environmental Protection Agency's recent move to approve new coal-fired power plants without regulating carbon dioxide emissions.

The committee has charged that EPA is ignoring the Supreme Court's April ruling that the agency is responsible for regulating greenhouse gases. EPA claims it cannot yet regulate plants because it has not written general rules for limiting emissions.

The committee has postponed a hearing on allegations that State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard obstructed investigations that threatened to embarrass the Bush administration. The committee is seeking more information from the IG's office.

COMMENTS

• My understanding of the origin of the Hatch Act was that it was supposed to protect federal employees from political intimidation by management. My impressions are that the large majority of disciplinary actions are directed against employees for forwarding emails or other forms of correspondance (ussually humorous)to other employees. There seems to be very little prosecution of serious offenses at the upper levels of government. I find this to be unsatisfactory and actually it is likely undermining the effectiveness of the law. LeRoy L. Knobel Posted October 17, 2007 11:24 AM
• The staffer said that as the 2008 election approaches, the hearing will remind federal officials to stay out of elections while on the job. "...stay out of elections while on the job." I can't believe this wasn't a no-brainer for everybody, always. Duh!! I guess if you have no brains, you just don't get it. Rick Posted October 17, 2007 8:05 AM
• While I support the legislature's function to investigate and perform oversight - which was sadly lacking in the previous congress, the Hatch Act violations seem to go nowhere. Whatever happened to the recommendations to the White House over the Lurita Doan violation at GSA? Complete silence. This one may be a paper tiger and perhaps there are much bigger administration fish to fry. More than enough dirt strewn around. Where to start? Don Posted October 16, 2007 3:14 PM