OMB POLICY STATEMENTS
Lawmakers Investigate OMB For Alleged Intimidation Of OPM
Lawmakers are investigating allegations that a White House budget official tried to intimidate the Office of Personnel Management inspector general's office against complaining about budget cuts. OPM IG Patrick McFarland on Jan. 11 said the Office of Management and Budget haHouse Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., and Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of the subcommittee on the federal workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia, sent letters to OMB Director Peter Orszag and Phyllis Fong, chairwoman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, asking them to submit reports on the allegations by Jan. 22.s threatened to "make life miserable for us" if his office tells lawmakers that budget cuts would handicap him.