(Washington, D.C.) – The Government Accountability Project (GAP) applauds the Government Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce for holding an oversight hearing on the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC). The hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, in room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. Chairman Danny Davis (D-IL) wrote to GAP that “the purpose of the hearing is to examine how the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) are meeting their statutory mission and safeguarding the federal government’s merit-based system of employment.”

“This hearing is long overdue,” stated GAP Legislative Representative Adam Miles, who will testify for GAP on Thursday. “The Office of Special Counsel, a cornerstone of the merit system when functioning as Congress intended, is in a crisis of credibility and legitimacy from nearly every perspective.”

OSC is a small federal agency whose mission is to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, and especially from reprisal for blowing the whistle. It has been under intense scrutiny since current Special Counsel Scott Bloch took over the agency in January 2004. Bloch is currently under investigation by the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE). PCIE is investigating allegations that Bloch violated the same merit system, employment, and free speech laws he is charged with enforcing in the rest of the government. The allegations were made in a 2005 Whistleblower Protection Act complaint by a group of anonymous OSC employees, as well as GAP, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and Human Rights Campaign.

Also testifying at the hearing will be GAP client and former OSC employee Natresha Dawson, who was harassed and removed from federal service for trying to follow through on commitments Bloch made in 2005 testimony before the Senate. Dawson staffed OSC’s Customer Service Unit, which was created in response to criticisms about poor management of complaints at the May 2005 Senate oversight hearings.

“Natresha Dawson’s experience illustrates that OSC’s commitments to start working closely with whistleblowers was nothing more than a façade,” said GAP Legal Director Tom Devine. “For all but a few, the Office of Special Counsel is a waste of time, energy and money.”

This is underscored further by GAP’s testimony, which analyzes a drastic statistical decline in OSC’s performance over the last several years, including a 60 percent reduction in the number of whistleblowers that receive any help from OSC. Also, despite OSC’s 2005 claims that the number of employee “favorable actions” would increase significantly in 2006, only seven more positive actions were secured by OSC and the percentage of employees helped by OSC for all whistleblower and other cases dropped to what may be an all-time low of 2.49 percent.

Despite the statistical decline, GAP’s testimony also details striking recent examples of the role OSC can and should always play on behalf of concerned federal employees, including GAP client Richard Conrad. Conrad, a civilian mechanic at the North Island Naval Depot in San Diego, was harassed and threatened with termination for disclosing evidence of maintenance breakdowns at the Depot. Conrad was reassigned to work nights in a unit that doesn’t perform any repairs on second shift, where his primary work activity for the last sixteen months has been reading paperback novels on taxpayers’ dime.

Conrad turned to OSC, which demanded that the Navy investigate the maintenance breakdowns, recommended discipline for a manager at North Island that provided false statements to Navy investigators, and help Conrad secure relief for the months he has been isolated, harassed, and denied overtime pay because of his whistleblowing.

“This is the way it ought to be for every good faith government employee that turns to OSC for assistance,” added Mr. Miles. “Unfortunately, this level of service has been practically unheard of since Special Counsel Bloch’s arrival in 2004. Until recently, the Special Counsel has been AWOL and OSC a non-factor in safeguarding the merit system. Congress should take notice and act accordingly.”