Oversight Committee Seeks Documents on DOE Whistleblower Retaliation and Discrimination Against Veterans

WASHINGTON—House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., today sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy Daniel B. Poneman regarding a new DOE Inspector General report indicating the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) had discriminated against veterans in its hiring practices and retaliated against employees who attempted to report the discrimination.

“The fact that Department officials may be engaged in retaliation against whistleblowers courageous enough to report improper hiring practices is, as the OIG wrote, deeply concerning,” Issa wrote. “If true, this is something the Committee will not tolerate.”

The letter seeks documents related to personnel actions taken against employees who were cooperating with DOE IG investigators and the BPA hiring practices.

You can read the full letter here.

The Bonneville Power Administration is a federal nonprofit agency based in the Pacific Northwest that markets wholesale electrical power from 31 federal hydro projects in the Columbia River Basin, one nonfederal nuclear plant and several other small nonfederal power plants. BPA provides about one third of the electrical power in the Pacific Northwest.