A general report from the federal inspector finds that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its boss, Seema Verma, violated hiring rules around hiring communications consultants aligned with the Republican Party.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General, in a report released Thursday, found that CMS incorrectly “allowed an individual subcontractor to perform inherently governmental functions, such as making administrative decisions and directing CMS employees,” such as part of $ 6.4 million in strategic communications contracts.
The report reveals that communications consultants from firms such as Porter Novelli and Nahigian Strategies performed some tasks that the government already had employees to perform in the Communications Office, including “writing on social media” and “Presentations in national media for the Administrator “.
“These tasks are similar in nature to the types of services that CMS Communications Office employees perform,” the report said, pointing to the risk that the measure “circumvents civil service laws.”
“Another risk is the loss of government control and responsibility over mission-related policy and program decisions, which can increase vulnerability to waste, fraud or abuse,” the report found.
The Department of Health and Human Services agreed with the recommendations and said it would review its contracts, in a response included in the report.
However, Verma rejected the findings in a response included in the report, noting “unsubstantiated assumptions and incomplete analyzes.”
“CMS contractor employees never had the ultimate ‘direction or control’ of any government employee; instead, they were part of a collaborative effort to effectively communicate policy announcements, develop and propose message recommendations, and strategize of communication of transversal agencies “. wrote
Michael Caputo, an HHS spokesman, also noted that the report did not find that Verma attempted to misuse the contracts to increase her reputation, a concern that congressional Democrats had raised.
“Despite attempts by some highly supportive media and members of Congress to make a molehill mountain, the Office of the Inspector General found no flaws in the way strategic communications contracts were awarded, nor does the report mention misleading allegations around increasing one’s personal brand, “Caputo said in a statement. “Their findings are based on arcane hiring rules that continue to be the subject of long confusion and debate across the federal government.”
– This report was updated at 10:44 am
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