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WASHINGTON– A key Obama administration official on Thursday assured Congress his agency takes seriously allegations that the Bonneville Power Administration discriminated against military veterans in its hiring, and that he has done nothing to muzzle employees who blew the whistle on the potential illegal activity.
"Absolutely not," said Daniel Poneman, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees Bonneville.

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Continuing coverage of the Bonneville Power Administration investigation by the Department of Energy.
Poneman testified at a hearing held on the controversy by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform along with BPA's chief operating officer Anita Decker and Gregory Friedman, the Department of Energy inspector general. In July, Friedman's office issued a preliminary review that found widespread violations of federal hiring practices and possible retaliation against whistleblowers by management.

Decker, along with Bonneville Administrator Bill Drummond, has been placed on administrative leave.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee's chairman, made it clear that claims that BPA employees had faced retaliation for speaking out would be the focus on the panel's ongoing investigation.

Issa said whistleblowers deserve to be heard and protected, citing the committee's responsibility for looking into claims of retaliation against those who shine the light on wrongdoing.

"It's illegal, and we won't stand for it," he said.

He also cited laws that provide military veterans with certain benefits when it comes to government hiring. In essence, they are given preferential treatment.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the panel's ranking Democrat, said the committee should wait for a final report but also did not hold back when discussing veterans' hiring.

"We are fighting a war that has lasted more than a dozen years," Cummings said. "American soldiers are arriving home every day, and they face common worries. How will I support myself when I take off these fatigues? How will I support my family when I hang up these boots?"

If allegations of discrimination against veterans or retaliation against whistleblowers prove true, he said, those responsible should be held accountable. "As far as I am concerned, it is criminal," Cummings said at one point in the hearing.

Decker conceded that the agency had applied the hiring policy incorrectly, but assured the committee that veterans had not been targeted. As evidence, Decker cited veterans who were not excluded during the process.

She testified that she would never knowingly allow BPA to implement policies that not only violated federal policy but also hurt veterans, citing her own family's military service. As for allegations that whistleblowers faced retaliation, she told the committee she was not the "decision maker" on the proposed actions that led to such claims.

Friedman, the inspector general who is reviewing the allegations, testified it is possible a handful of employees had faced retaliation at some point, but that the number could grow as additional claims are received.

He explained to the committee that they should consider his work a review, not necessarily an investigation at this point, he said.

Still, House members repeatedly pressed Friedman for an assessment of how much fear of retaliation might have dampened employees' willingness to talk. He conceded such fears could chill a review but could not go much beyond that.

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