The White House on Tuesday designated Jim Williams acting administrator of the General Services Administration, effective Aug. 30. .... After a heated July 25 confirmation hearing in which Williams was grilled on his involvement in a controversial information technology contract, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, blocked the nomination....
Grassley has expressed concern that Williams did not properly protect taxpayers in the renewal of a contract with Sun Microsystems, an IT company with which GSA renewed a contract over the objections of some contracting officers. Doan, and now Williams, had taken heat for allegedly influencing contracting officers to renew the award. The GSA inspector general determined the firm broke an agreement with the government that would have offered the agency discounts based on reductions given to private buyers. The Justice Department later sued Sun for fraud.
"Although I agree that he is a well-qualified and devoted civil servant, I don't believe Mr. Williams has the bureaucratic and intestinal fortitude to make the tough decisions at GSA when it matters," Grassley said July 24 on the Senate floor. "Because he failed to protect the taxpayers at a crucial moment, we should not elevate Mr. Williams to high office."
As acting administrator replacing the retiring David Bibb, Williams can function as the leader of GSA without Senate confirmation.
Dammit. And don't tell me you couldn't have organized it, Harry. You're the one who's supposed to be the master of parliamentary procedure.
Sheesh. For all I know, it's some backroom deal you cooked up with Bush. After all, we're all post-partisans now.
NOTE Via First Draft.
- lambert's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Front page
Comments
Pssst...let me tell you a little-known secret about Harry Reid.
He's a Republican agent...like most of the other Democrats.
"You'd better get this straight. Wise up before it's too late." -- Sister Sledge
"Capitalists on the way up, communists on the way down." -- Stirling Newberry
I can't help laugh
I admit, with just a hint of hysteria
Not Harry's fault, nothing he could do about it
This appointment is not a "recess appointment." The original article accurately described it as being named to an "acting" position. It is an administrative transfer, not subject to Senate confirmation - as the article also correctly points out:
The Senate is, once again, being kept in session by brief meetings every couple of days to prevent recess appointments.
Blame George Bush, by all means, but not Harry.