EPA, IRS Officials Awarded Amid Scandals

The EPA and the IRS are poster children when it comes to government corruption. The first not only contaminated a river in Colorado and then downplayed the breach, it also ignored the tainted water situation in Flint, Michigan. And the latter intentionally targeted conservative groups.

Those are pretty serious allegations that might have led to criminal charges. But none of that stopped the National Academy of Public Administration from awarding William Ruckelshaus and John Koskinen, a respective former and current official with the EPA and IRS, from garnering admiration at, shall we say, a very inopportune time. According to Government Executive:

“One is a living hero from the Watergate scandal who in 1970 became the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The other is a veteran of the 1990s Office of Management and Budget who is under constant political fire as the current commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Both William Ruckelshaus and John Koskinen on Tuesday night were awarded the Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service by the National Academy of Public Administration… The prestigious award … comes with $25,000 cash, at least half of which is earmarked to a charity of the recipient’s choice.”

Perhaps the charity can go to the Navajo Nation, the residents of Flint, Michigan, or the Tea Party groups that were denied tax-exempt status. (Fat chance.)

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