Waxman calls for Scott Bloch's resignation

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has urged the beleaguered head of the White House Office of Special Counsel to step down.

In a letter dated July 28. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), told Scott Bloch, special counsel, "I have concluded that OSC would be better served with new leadership and urge you to step down."

The Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group, released Waxman's letter. POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian had written to Joshua Bolten, the White House chief of staff, earlier in July asking him to remove Bloch. And in May, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking minority member of the oversight committee, urged Bloch to resign.

Bloch, whose duties include protecting whistle-blowers, has been the target of a long-running Office of Personnel Management probe related to a variety of allegations including mistreatment of employees, political bias and obstruction of justice. In 2006 Bloch hired a commercial firm to erase the hard drives of three computers in what his critics believe was an effort to destroy evidence.

Earlier this month, James Byrne, the most senior career official at the OSC, resigned and called for Bloch's replacement, according to Waxman. In Byrne's resignation letter, which Waxman quoted, he said, "the mission, independence, and very existence of the Office of Special Counsel are -- and shall remain -- at risk."