The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is the federal government’s attorney charged with protecting federal employee whistleblowers. It took President Obama a long time to finally pick a nominee for this position. Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) held a hearing on that nominee, Carolyn Lerner. One thing that Sen. Daniel Akaka and I agree on is that Carolyn Lerner is "a well-qualified nominee." You can read Sen. Akaka’s introduction here, and Carolyn Lerner’s prepared statement here. Follow this link to the Committee’s video of the confirmation hearing. I can also agree with Sen. Ron Johnson that the Special Counsel is an important position that plays a key role in protecting people who want to come forward and do the right thing. Sen. Johnson lamented that the office has gone two years without a leader, and expressed thanks that the Committee could finally hold this confirmation hearing.
