WASHINGTON
– Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), presumptive ranking member of the Senate Budget
Committee, is seeking information from a broad set of federal government
agencies about their use of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program,
which allows agencies to utilize non-federal employees to serve in temporary
roles in the federal government while being paid by outside employers or
entities.
“Full public transparency is critical to
ensuring that the roles, responsibilities, and funding arrangements for [these workers],”
Grassley wrote, “…do not present
potential or actual conflicts of interest.”
Grassley
is seeking information about IPA assignees whose salaries are paid by the
Federation of American Scientists (FAS), a non-profit with ties to former
Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Schmidt’s reported involvement in providing financial
support for IPA assignees in science and technology-related positions through
FAS has raised conflicts of interest concerns given Schmidt’s significant
investments in technology companies.
The
senator is specifically asking for a comprehensive accounting of all IPA
assignees, records relating to the agreements between assignees and agencies,
and all documents and communications related to FAS, Eric Schmidt and other
Schmidt-related entities. He sent letters of inquiry to the following list of agencies:
White House Council of Economic Advisers, White House Council on Environmental
Quality, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Health
and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland
Security, Federal Trade Commission, General Services Administration and the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Full
text of Grassley’s letters can be found at the following links:
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