Wastebook - Senator Tom Coburn - U.S. Senate

Wastebook 201320. Denali Commission Official Asks to be Fired and for Agency to beEliminated Because “It Hasn’t Worked Out” – (AK) $10.7 millionIt’s not every day an official with a leadership role within a federal agency asks to be fired and for hisagency to be eliminated.It happened this summer.“I have concluded that [my agency] is a congressionalexperiment that hasn’t worked out in practice,” wroteMike Marsh, the Inspector General for the DenaliCommission. 264 Marsh said the commission’s missionhad “run its course” 265 and that it was time to cut it offfrom federal funding.The request did not go unnoticed.“Fire Me” proclaimed the front page headline of theprint edition of The Washington Post reporting on theunusual request. 266Yet Congress ignored his request and the agencycontinues to receive federal funds. No hearings wereheld about the future of the agency or even to defendthe money it had spent or work it has done over thepast 15 years.Few federal agencies have the distinction now beingworn by the Denali Commission. In 2013, the agency’sinspector general said the commission’s mission had“run its course” 267 and that it was time to cut it offfrom federal funding. 268“Fire Me” proclaimed the front page of TheWashington Post after the Inspector General askedfor his agency to be eliminated because it was a 15year old failed “experiment that hasn’t worked outin practice.” Congress ignored his request and theagencyDenali was established by Congress through the Denali Commission Act of 1998 269 to promote ruraldevelopment in the State of Alaska, 270 also known as the “bush” communities. Projects include powergeneration, transition facilities, communication systems, water and sewer systems and otherinfrastructure needs.The Commission’s goal is to deliver services of the federal government in the most cost-effectivemanner by reducing administrative and overhead costs. 271 In 2013, the commission received $10.7million in federal funds and for fiscal year 2014, the Obama Administration requested $7.4 million. 272Despite these goals, and 15 years of existence, the Inspector General for Denali urged Congress to“sunset Denali as a federal entity and convert it into a nonfederal entity.” 273Much of the Inspector General’s concerns lie with his belief that many bush communities cannotfinancially sustain the Commission’s investments, and thus the money is wasted and the communitiesdo not benefit. Most of the commission’s money has gone towards supplying the towns with36