WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is being grilled by Democrats in the U.S. Congress over the resignation of one of his top lieutenants.
Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives asked Chertoff last week to explain why they were not told that a high-ranking personnel official had tendered his resignation days before testifying about staffing woes, GovExec.com reported.
Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., said the resignation of K. Gregg Prillaman, DHS' chief human capital officer, also created doubt surrounding the department's planned personnel reforms.
Prillaman told the DHS on May 15 about his plans to resign, but Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee said that three days later, he testified at a hearing without notifying them of his upcoming departure. DHS initially declined to confirm reports of his resignation, they said.
"It appears that the department's human capital system is in critical condition, possessing neither steady, seasoned leadership nor clearly defined goals," the representatives wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Chertoff.
"The report of Mr. Prillaman's impending resignation is disturbing not only because it raises issues about the department's commitment to addressing attrition and morale issues but also because it further underscores the need for a proven human capital system."
Thompson and Meek grouped Prillaman's resignation with "several unfavorable court decisions" and decreased congressional appropriations as bad omens for the agency's new personnel system, which among other reforms, will base annual pay raises on performance ratings.
Orluskie said an acting director will be named in Prillaman's place next week, and will serve until a presidential appointment is made for the position. Prillaman will leave June 9, GovExec.com said.
