EDITORIAL: Walpin-gate reopens
Republican senators ought to place an open and immediate hold upon the nomination of Jon A. Hatfield as inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The legislative hold is necessary not to question Mr. Hatfield's fitness for the job, but to insist that the job itself should not yet be deemed open. The former inspector general (IG), the improperly dismissed Gerald Walpin, filed a motion in court May 20 to force a judge to stop ignoring his lawsuit for reinstatement. Until he receives his day in court, no replacement should be confirmed.
President Obama dismissed the widely respected Mr. Walpin on June 11, 2009, shortly after Mr. Walpin issued two reports highly embarrassing to political allies of the president. Despite a legal requirement that presidents provide 30 days' notice to remove any IG and provide an explanation for the dismissal, Mr. Obama originally did neither. When the White House belatedly offered some reasons, they were rife with errors, inconsistencies and a few outright falsehoods.
On July 17, Mr. Walpin filed a federal lawsuit demanding reinstatement. Since then, Judge Richard W. Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has sat on motion after motion, countermotion after countermotion, without lifting a finger to move the case along. In so doing, he has ignored specific time limits contained in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He also has played into the hands of the Obama administration, which has used every possible stalling tactic to keep the case buried and its merits unexamined. The goal, which is highly improper, seems to be to render Mr. Walpin's case moot by putting Mr. Hatfield in his place.