Embattled GSA Administrator Lurita Doan returned to Capitol Hill today for a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) invited Doan to testify in the continuing saga of her tenure - this time to examine statements made by Doan that impugn the reputation of federal officials who cooperated with a Committee investigation into Ms. Doan's conduct at the General Services Administration. There was plenty of fireworks at the hearing, particularly because of the release one week earlier of a report by the White House's Office of Special Counsel that found Doan had broken the law by violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of government resources for political activity. I watched the hearing this morning and it's difficult for me to explain the insanity that took place. Questions and topics explored during the hearing included a new Social Security office in Fort Wayne, IN, allegations of stealing documents against former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, former President Bill Clinton's fundraising tactics and procedures (btw, he's been out of office for seven years), Doan's private charitable contributions, the multitude of disparaging comments that goes on in politics, grammar lessons, race relations, and a host of other unrelated issues that had great import for members of the committee. At times it was tough to tell if everyone involved was operating under the same situation. The tone of the hearing was aggressive and combative. Doan was coy, snide, flip, rude at times, and unrepentant for a host of problems, violations, and downright awful decisions and actions she has been involved in since become GSA Administrator just over one year ago. Republicans were "outraged" at this "witch hunt" that was taking place, and decided to talk about anything and everything except the details related to the problems in question of Doan's tenure. Democrats were hostile and domineering, often cutting Doan off to ask for a straight or direct answers during one of her many rambling, excuse-laden responses that they claimed ate away their five minutes for questions. While there was a lot of confusion during the hearing, here's what we do know about Doan's first year as Administrator:

• Doan attempted to award a no-bid contract for $20,000 to a company owned by a friend - Edie Fraiser. When the GSA Inspector General began investigating this shady deal, Doan requested that the IG's budget be reduced by $10.2 million - an unprecedented action. (see here, here, and here for more details)
• Doan intervened in contract renewal negotiations with Sun Microsystems to force renewal of the contract despite the strong reservations of two separate contract officers who believed the government was being over charged and could get a better deal elsewhere.
• Doan planned to hire contractors to conduct "pre-contract award audits" that the Inspector General's office had been doing for quite some time. This move raised conflict of interest and privacy concerns for many in Congress.
• The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) in the White House (the head of whom was appointed by President Bush) has concluded that Doan committed "serious violations" of the Federal Hatch Act and failed to adequately cooperate with investigators. Doan was unable to give any explanation to Congress for her actions or apologize. The OSC report concludes, "Despite engaging in the most pernicious of political activity prohibited by the Hatch Act, Administrator Doan has shown no remorse and lacks an appreciation for the seriousness of her violation." The OSC recommended that the President discipline Doan to the fullest extent for her serious violation.

At the end of the hearing, Chairman Waxman gave what I would describe as a fair summary of the violations, concerns, and problems that have arisen during Doan's time as head of the GSA (many of which I have listed above) and then surprisingly called for her to resign. While we await the decision of the president as to what course to pursue with Administrator Doan, something tells me she will respond to Waxman's call for resignation much the way she has handled herself so far at the GSA - with contempt for her critics both within GSA and outside and without remorse or apology for her well-established mistakes, errors, and apparent illegal activity.