Pat Host
Defense Daily
The woman who President Donald Trump plans to nominate to serve as the next Air Force secretary was subject to an Energy Department inspector general (IG) probe in 2013 that found she earned $450,000 from facility contractors without providing evidence that work was performed.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) asked DOE IG to review whether a consulting agreement with Los Alamos National Laboratory awarded to former Rep. Heather Wilson’s (R-N.M.) consulting firm, Heather Wilson and Company LLC (HWC), was appropriately administered and managed. Specifically, DOE IG was asked to determine whether work products (deliverables) were produced in return for monthly payments to HWC of $10,000 and whether invoices included itemized charges, as required from the government.
Wilson has served as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology since 2013. If confirmed, she will become the first Air Force Academy graduate to become the service’s top civilian.
The DOE IG was also tasked to investigate whether there was overlap between the services provided and work products produced by HWC on consulting agreements awarded by Sandia National Labs, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Nevada National Security Site; and if a NNSA contracting officer was subjected to “pressure” when Los Alamos National Security LLC, the management and operating contractor for Los Alamos, requested authorization to enter into an agreement with HWC.
Sandia Corp., the contractor managing the Sandia National Laboratories, paid the government $4.8 million in 2015 to settle claims that it used federal funding to lobby federal agencies and Congress to secure an extension of its management contract at the DOE site. The settlement followed an IG investigation that identified Wilson as one of three consultants providing lobbying guidance to Sandia.
Sandia Corp.’s contract expires on April 30. The National Nuclear Security Administration last month awarded a new management and operations contract to a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International. Oak Ridge is managed by a joint venture between the University of Tennessee and Battelle. Los Alamos is managed by Los Alamos National Security, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, BWXT Government Group and URS, an AECOM company.
The DOE IG said under federal acquisition regulations (FAR), fees for services rendered are allowable only when supported by evidence of the nature and scope of the service furnished. Examples of such evidence are consultant work products and invoices with sufficient detail regarding the time expended and the nature of the actual services provided. Despite these requirements, the DOE IG said DOE facility contractors failed to include, or did not enforce, terms in the consulting agreements that would have required HWC to provide details regarding the nature and scope of the work performed prior to payment.
Wilson’s home state of New Mexico hosts two major nuclear facilities: the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. These labs are federally owned facilities, but are managed and operated by private contractors, according to Lydia Dennett, an investigator at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) in Washington.
Dennett said Wilson’s nomination concerns POGO because of the “reverse revolving door” situation that could develop due to Wilson’s previous work for these national labs as the Air Force has cross work with these national labs. POGO, she said, is concerned that she’ll go back into government as Air Force secretary and show these labs she once worked for some favorable treatment.
Dennett said POGO doesn’t believe Wilson should be disqualified from consideration because of this, but she hopes government ethics processionals and the senators at her confirmation hearing will bring this up to ensure she’ll be as unbiased as possible. The Air Force is home to the Pentagon’s air and land wings of the nuclear triad—bombers and ICBMS. The service is also embarking on its next-generation ICBM effort, called Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD).
Wilson did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday.
Wilson served in the House as a Republican from 1998 to 2009, representing New Mexico. She was a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and chaired the House Permanent Select Intelligence technical and tactical intelligence subcommittee. Wilson also served on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) from 2001-2003.
A number of key stakeholders expressed their support for Wilson’s nomination. These included the Aerospace Industries Association and HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who served on the committee with Wilson from 2001-2003. The two also served on the House Intelligence Committee at one point. Barron Youngsmith, spokesman for HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), said Smith was aware of the nomination, but hadn’t yet developed a position on Wilson’s nomination.
She also opposed a plan by the Republican leadership in the early 2000s to move management of the nuclear weapons program (largely based in New Mexico) from DOE to the Pentagon.
