In the private sector, executive search outfits typically charge a (big) fee for finding someone a top job. The bigger the job, the bigger the fee. In some cases the job-hunter may pay either a fixed amount or a portion of his/her new salary. In other cases, the company doing the hiring picks up the tab. Or sometimes both the hunter and the huntee pay.

The government does it differently. Although the government is run on the assumption that it is a merit system, the top bosses are nearly all political appointees whose average tenure is 18 months.

If you want a top job with Uncle Sam it’s probably gonna cost you a lot. As in “a lot more than you will ever (legally) make while in that job.”

Case in point: Lurita Doan has resigned as administrator of the General Services Administration. When the Washington political establishment says that somebody resigned, it is sort of like the pirate chief saying that somebody committed suicide by drowning after being forced to walk the plank.

Doan had been a very successful business woman. And she was highly visible in the political world having raised or donated more than $200,000 for Republican causes and candidates. GSA is a very important agency, but not a sexy assignment like Defense, State, or Ambassador to France. But she seemed a good fit for the job, and was GSA’s first administrator.

Doan ran afoul of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) who chairs the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. When the committee was run by Republicans, it beat up on Democrats including then President Clinton. Some say this is payback time.

Doan also ran afoul of Special Counsel Scott Bloch who recommended that the White House punish her for alleged violations of the Hatch “no politics” Act.

Doan also tangled with GSA’s independent Inspector General Brian Miller over the handling of four whistle-blowers. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sided with the IG. In an exit interview with FederalNewsRadio she said maybe the IG should be investigated. As in who-guards-the-guards?

Doan also said that the New York Times led the media attack on her as a way to get at or discredit the Bush administration. Ironically, she said she had never spoken to or been interviewed by a Times reporter during her tenure.

In the understatement of the year, Doan told FederalNewsRadio that “I stepped on a lot of toes.”

So how did it end?

Doan said she was called to the White House and told she had to go because she had become a “distraction.”

To the extent that historians write about GSA, history will decide whether she was good and effective or bad. Or more good than bad. Or more bad than good. Depending on who writes it, of course!

But her rise, and fall, gives us a rare peek at the way things work in the highly-charged political world of Washington. And it also shows that if you want a top political job you need two things: 1) the ability to pass a very tough background check, and 2) high political visibility which is often attained by writing checks to the winning political party.

And it also reinforces the truth of the old adage: If you want loyalty in Washington, get a dog! To listen to her interview, click here.

Nearly Useless Factoid

That cubicle farm in your office? The cells did not get their name from the shape. It is from the Latin “cubiculum” meaning bedroom.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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