Two Republican senators, Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Orrin Hatch of Utah, asked for a congressional hearing to look at whether President Obama acted appropriately when he fired the national service agency's inspector general earlier this month.
In what has become known as Walpin-Gate, Obama fired Gerald Walpin, the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other programs that are part of the Corporation for National Community Service. Obama said he lost confidence in Walpin after Walpin's investigation found misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group led by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter.
Walpin has some important friends coming to his defense. Some 145 of them, including former federal judges and even Democrats like Bernie Nussbaum, former President Clinton's first White House counsel.
There is a lot more to this story. The FBI has opened an investigation into Mayor Johnson's group giving credence to the Walpin's work.
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