Members of congress are complaining the guy is more of a lapdog than a watchdog, and with NASA getting more money under the Obama administration, they want him replaced. <br><br>"arrest/search
warrants were obtained for NASA facilities. Mr. Cobb would question
every aspect of the cases and gave the appearance he wanted to derail
them before agents were given adequate time to investigate the
allegations."<br><br>I never imagined NCIS style law enforcement investigators being a self-policing department within NASA. Is this true? I guess I envisioned NASA employees as always behaving nobly as they expanded humanity's reach into outer space. <br>
<br>John<br><br><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/11/siu.nasa.watchdog/?iref=mpstoryview">http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/11/siu.nasa.watchdog/?iref=mpstoryview</a><br><br><div id="cnnSCByLine">By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost<br>
CNN Special Investigations Unit</div>
<p> <b>WASHINGTON (CNN)</b>
-- Key members of Congress from both parties want NASA's internal
watchdog fired, arguing he can't be trusted to oversee the $1 billion
in additional money the space agency is getting under the Obama
administration's economic stimulus package.</p>
<div class="cnnStoryPhotoBox"><div id="cnnImgChngr" class="cnnImgChngr"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/03/11/siu.nasa.watchdog/art.wiring.cnn.jpg" alt="Lawmakers say NASA's inspector general cannot be trusted and must go." width="292" border="0" height="219"><div class="cnnStoryPhotoCaptionBox">
<div class="cnn3pxTB9pxLRPad"><p>Lawmakers say NASA's inspector general cannot be trusted and must go.</p></div></div><div class="cnnWireBoxFooter"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif" alt="" width="4" height="4"> </div>
</div></div>
<p>
Government reports dating back to 2006 have accused NASA Inspector
General Robert "Moose" Cobb of ineffectiveness, of profanely berating
employees and being too close to the agency's leadership. Calls for his
ouster have intensified in the past month, since NASA is getting
additional stimulus money for space exploration, research, and
aeronautics.</p><p> "Apparently, Mr. Cobb thought he was supposed to be
the lap dog, rather than the watchdog, of NASA," Rep. Bart Gordon,
D-Tennessee, told CNN.</p><p> Gordon, chairman of the House Committee
on Science and Technology, has asked President Obama to remove Cobb. In
a letter co-authored by Rep. Brad Miller, D-North Carolina, who leads
the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, the lawmakers
argue that "NASA cannot afford another four years with an ineffective
inspector general." <span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" alt="Video" width="16" border="0" height="14"> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/11/siu.nasa.watchdog/?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/');">Watch NASA watchdog under fire »</a></span></p>
<p>
"It's incredibly ironic for members of Congress who have scolded the
inspector general for lousy oversight to dump a billion dollars into
the agency," said Pete Sepp, vice president of the National Taxpayers
Union, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog group that monitors government
spending. "The first thing you do when you're digging a hole is to stop
digging. Congress doesn't seem to get that message."</p><p> Cobb declined two requests from CNN to respond to the complaints.</p><p>
In December 2008, the Government Accountability Office released a
report that criticized how Cobb was running the inspector general's
office. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, "found that Mr.
Cobb is one of the least productive IGs in the federal government,"
Gordon and Miller wrote.</p>
<div class="cnnStoryElementBox"><h4>Don't Miss</h4> <ul class="cnnRelated"><li>
<a target="new" href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0988.pdf">GAO full report on auditing NASA</a>
</li><li>
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/04/shuttle.discovery.delay/index.html#cnnSTCText">NASA delays launch of shuttle Discovery</a>
</li><li>
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/03/11/kennedy.space.center/index.html">Behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center</a>
</li></ul></div>
<p>
"His monetary accomplishments reflect a return of just 36 cents for
every dollar budgeted for his office. This compares with an average of
$9.49 returned for every dollar spent on other IGs' offices. The main
reason for this failure is that NASA's audit operation is not working."</p><p>
Gordon told CNN that Cobb's "own peers said he wasn't doing his job,
that he didn't understand the audit process and that he was not
carrying out the investigation process. As a matter of fact, he was
slowing it down, or even stopping it."</p><p> And Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, agreed that Cobb must be replaced.</p><p>
"Inspectors general are the first line of defense against the waste of
taxpayers' money," Grassley told CNN. "And, if he's not doing his job,
and you stick another billion dollars into it, then you just know
there's another billion dollars that there could be a lot of waste of
it."</p><p> A 2006 investigation by a presidential integrity council
found Cobb "engaged in abuse of authority" and had a "close
relationship" with former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe that
"compromised" his independence. The two played golf together and took
official trips together on NASA aircraft. <a href="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/11/integrity.committee.report.pdf" target="new">Read investigative integrity report (Warning: Report contains explicit language)</a></p>
<p>
The committee also found that Cobb "engaged in an abuse of authority"
through his "habitual use of profanity," and recommended disciplinary
action "up to and including removal," Gordon and Miller wrote.</p><p> Cobb defended himself at a 2007 congressional hearing, arguing that he had upheld his oath of office.</p><p>
"At NASA, I have taken the responsibilities of office under the
Inspector General Act seriously and without compromise to root out and
prevent fraud, waste and abuse, and to promote the economy and
efficiency of the agency," he said. "I've worked with NASA management
in the manner contemplated by the Inspector General Act."</p><p> But former staffers told the committee that Cobb created a disturbing work environment.</p><p>
"One of my early experiences with Mr. Cobb was so disturbing that I
considered leaving the OIG almost immediately afterwards," said Debra
Herzog, former deputy assistant inspector-general for investigations.</p><p>
"At a scheduled weekly meeting, Mr. Cobb, in front of his deputy and my
supervisor, berated me concerning a word in a letter. In an ensuing
monologue, loudly peppered with profanities, Mr. Cobb insulted and
ridiculed me," Herzog recounted.</p><p> Lance Carrington, the former
assistant inspector general for investigations, told the panel that "in
many investigative cases, Mr. Cobb appeared to have a lack of
independence when NASA officials were subjects, or if arrest/search
warrants were obtained for NASA facilities. Mr. Cobb would question
every aspect of the cases and gave the appearance he wanted to derail
them before agents were given adequate time to investigate the
allegations."</p> <br>