Non-Subscriber Extract
Gates warns ethics rules could hurt Pentagon recruiting
By Caitlin Harrington
30 January 2009
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates questioned on 27 January the growing push in Washington for ethics rules that limit the ability of government personnel to rotate between government and industry.
"All of us need to look at this to see if we're not cutting off our nose to spite our face," he told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to lay out his top priorities for the new administration.
Gates said the problem with ethics reforms aimed at closing the revolving door between government and industry is that it can prevent the most qualified people - those with years of management and budget experience in the private sector - from taking high-level government jobs in which that type of experience is highly desirable.
Such experience is particularly important when seeking to recruit senior acquisition officials, Gates said.
"These people manage billions of dollars and you need people with real-world experience to be able to make those decisions and those recommendations ... getting people at that level and more senior levels, who have the credentials to be able to do the job, is very tough."