The difference between public service and divisive politics

The disregard for taxpayers shown by a few individuals at the General Services Administration (GSA) should not be tolerated. Already, several GSA employees have either lost their jobs or are on administrative leave while their actions are being investigated. The agency has instituted personnel and organization changes. GSA Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini has already elevated spending approval to be the direct responsibility of the Deputy Administrator.

As a Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I take the responsibility of oversight over government agencies very seriously. The Committee rightly brought the GSA Inspector General (IG) to discuss the IG’s report detailing the breach of public trust that occurred.

We must not lose sight of the contribution that federal workers — including the vast majority of those employed by GSA — make each and every day to the smooth functioning of our federal government. These hard-working, ethical public servants do their best to serve the public. 

We must have the capacity to know the difference between the important work of these and other public servants and the divisive politics that seeks to tar and punish all federal workers with the same brush.

The GSA was established in 1949 to help federal agencies conduct their business. It provides services to other agencies such as support, office space and transportation. GSA is one of only three agencies set up to work across government lines (the other two being the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget). 

One of its objectives is to lower government spending by minimizing duplication of work across agencies. One example is the USA.gov search engine. GSA created this search service to search all levels of government (federal, state, local and tribal). 

GSA offers this service free of charge to other agencies and states who use the portions of the search index that pertain to their websites, enabling agencies to avoid having to license, develop, or maintain their own site search solutions. Over 1000 agencies at federal and state level are using the USA.gov search function rather than buying or building their own service, saving tens of millions of dollars.

Waste, fraud and abuse will not be tolerated. However, as we move forward with our oversight investigations, let us remember that government agencies exist because they perform a valuable role for the government and the public at large. We must root out the bad apples, but we must do so with respect for those who serve our nation faithfully.

Rep. Kucinich (D-Ohio) is the Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

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