People:
GAO LETS LOOSE PARTING BLOW AGAINST EX-OIG CHIEF
Published on Tue Jun 24, 2003
The General Accounting Office gave former HHS Office of Inspector General chief Janet Rehnquist a farewell kick in the pants June 11, publishing a scathing account of her oversight of the agency. In "Department of Health and Human Services: Review of Management of Inspector General Operations" (GAO-03-685), the GAO criticizes Rehnquist for "serious lapses in judgment" and drastic personnel shifts that "fostered an atmosphere of anxiety and distrust." The 50-page report chronicles numerous high-profile "lapses in judgment" - from her purported delay of a Florida pension audit during Gov. Jeb Bush's gubernatorial run to her brief possession of a firearm at OIG headquarters - and concludes that the "collective effect" of the lapses undermined her ability to effectively head the agency. Rehnquist left the OIG June 1.