Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has blocked the ambassadorial nomination of Alan Solomont, currently chairman of the board of the government agency that oversees AmeriCorps, in retaliation for what Grassley says is the administration’s stonewalling of Congress over documents relating to the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. Specifically, Grassley has sought, and been denied, information relating to the White House’s role in the decision to fire Walpin.

Solomont, a major Democratic donor, is chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps. His term ends in October, and President Obama has nominated him to be U.S. ambassador to Spain. The nomination was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week and now moves to the Senate floor — except that Grassley has placed a hold on it, meaning it will go nowhere until the senator’s objections are resolved.

Two things to note: first, and most obviously, if the White House refuses to take seriously its own stated rules about transparency and openness then there’s no reason for anybody else to do so, either. It’s long since past time that this administration either changes its behavior to match its rhetoric, or else admit that they never meant the rhetoric in the first place. A sitting Senator should not have to use this kind of weapon in order to get a simple information request honored.

Second, and this is frankly a warning: the Senatorial hold is merely one of the tools developed by the Senate over a centuries-long history to ensure that the majority party may not run roughshod over the minority one. If the Democrats attempt to use reconciliation to push through their unpopular health care rationing bill, well.  There are many, many ways to ruin a Senate Majority Leader’s day – and SML Reid’s only hope is that none of the at least forty men and women (all accustomed to the holding and use of power) who he’s just arrogantly dismissed won’t be annoyed enough at him to use them.

Yes, put that way it sounds a lot less like a good idea, doesn’t it? Sixty-forty Reid tries it anyway.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Gerald Walpin, the AmeriCorps inspector general who was summarily fired in June amid controversy over his investigation of a politically-connected supporter of President Obama, has filed suit alleging that the firing was “unlawful,” “politically driven,” “procedurally defective” and “a transparent and clumsily-conducted effort to circumvent the protections” given to inspectors general under the Inspectors General Reform Act of 2008.

Walpin’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is against the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps.  Also named are Nicola Goren, the acting CEO of the Corporation, Frank Trinity, its general counsel, and Raymond Limon, the Corporation’s “chief human capital officer.”  The suit asks the court to declare Walpin’s firing unlawful and restore him to his position as the Corporation’s inspector general.

Via The Rhetorician. Note that Walpin isn’t suing for damages, merely reinstatement and an admission that the firing was improper in the first place.  Whether or not he gets either will depend in large part whether the administration can outwait him; as Ed Morrissey points out, Walpin is 77 years old.  On the other hand, this is hardly the only IG controversy going on, and right now the White House doesn’t need any more negative scrutiny than what it’s already getting…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

We can begin with this video, which goes over the basic points:

Short version: Walpin was investigating Obama crony’s involvement in an AmeriCorps-related scandal involving misappropriation of funding. Case was settled, to the mild detriment of crony*. Walpin disagreed with settlement. Complaint made against him. So far, this is all he-said, he-said. 

Then the White House tried to force out Walpin; Walpin, well aware of his rights, made them go through the process.  At this point, Senator Charles Grassley – Republican – stepped in, as IG issues are one of his interests.  Grassley would also like to know if the First Lady’s office is involved in this somehow, given that her CoS is going over to run the Corporation for National and Community Service, who Walpin was also responsible for oversight over.  Meanwhile, Senator Claire McCaskill – Democrat – has also stepped in, as she too is usually associated with IG protection.  That makes this officially a matter of bipartisan concern, which means that the White House of course is doing everything it can to address said concerns seriously.

I’m kidding, of course.  No, what the White House is actually doing, of course, is trying to imply that Walpin’s senile:

WASHINGTON — Responding to criticism from a Senate Democratic ally, President Obama explained why he fired the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps without the 30-day notification required by law, calling Gerald Walpin so “confused” and “disoriented” that there was reason to question “his capacity to serve.”

As Ed Morrissey noted, believing that this was the White House’s primary motive requires that you believe that the administration’s instinctive, immediate reaction to seeing an employee come down with a debilitating disease is to fire them.  Yes.  That is precisely the thing that one does when one wishes to maintain a reputation for empathy and tolerance.  I can’t say that I have as much difficulty as Michelle Malkin reconciling the allegation of Walpin’s mental diminished capacity with his public appearances (see the video above), mostly because neither I nor Ms. Malkin can take it at all seriously…

Moe Lane

*Nobody went to jail for misappropriating 850K.  That makes it “mild” detriment.

Crossposted to RedState.