Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max The White House’s science office wants staffers to KNOCK. IT. OFF. Seriously. Like, right now. On March 4, the current head of the office, ALONDRA NELSON, issued an internal directive to all staff “effective immediately” that prohibited “the use of electronic or mechanical devices to monitor or record communications” with few exceptions. “Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including removal from Federal service,” read the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) directive, a copy of which was obtained by West Wing Playbook. The internal move comes after we reported on March 2 that Nelson had told staff to stop recording internal conversations and sharing them with reporters. We obtained a recording of that conversation from people who believe the office needs an overhaul beyond just the departure of ERIC LANDER, who resigned last month after an internal investigation found he had bullied and disrespected subordinates. Some current and former staffers note that the investigation into Lander also implicated at least some of the leaders around him. The White House’s team found “credible evidence of disrespectful interactions with staff by Dr. Lander and OSTP leadership,” according to, yes, an audio recording of an internal briefing on the internal investigation. The briefing did not specify who among OSTP leadership was implicated. An OSTP spokesperson said that “we heard from a lot of staff who no longer felt comfortable speaking up in meetings because they were concerned they were being taped by someone. As part of creating a supportive workplace, we established a policy. Ours is modeled on the Office of Administration policy. Treasury has an even more succinct, one-sentence version that is established in the Code of Federal Regulations.” But while the directive forbidding recordings may be designed to give some staffers comfort to speak up in meetings, it also potentially risks depriving other staffers a form of protection against bad behavior from their superiors. After all, Lander only resigned following the public revelation of the internal investigation, the details of which were shared with POLITICO through a recording of an internal briefing. And ethics lawyers say the directive may not have teeth anyways. “At best, it’s debatable whether it’s even enforceable,” said DAVID SEIDE, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project (GAP) — a nonprofit that represents whistleblowers at every level of government — citing whistleblower laws, the First Amendment, and one-party consent rules in Washington. Seide and GAP are currently representing OSTP’s deputy counsel and chief operating officer, RACHEL WALLACE, as a whistleblower after she went on the record about Landers’ behavior. The office has taken the lead on future pandemic planning and Biden’s signature “cancer moonshot.” Nelson’s directive states that the “policy is intended to foster trust and collaboration between colleagues by ensuring they can communicate candidly and openly with each other in pursuit of maximizing the benefits of science and technology for all Americans without fear of surreptitious recording.” The directive is written to be broadly applied. “OSTP employees, fellows, contractors, interns, consultants, detailees, and assignees shall not, in the course of official duties, while on government property, or during assigned work hours, use any electronic or mechanical device to overhear, transmit, or record communications with any person(s) without the consent of each party to the communication,” it states. A recording can only be made if authorized by the director or their designee. The enforcement of it may be in doubt, but Seide argues that such a directive will not fix the underlying problem at the office. It could even make it worse. As he put it: “It’s a sad commentary on the climate or culture within that office that they even have issued that directive.” TEXT US — Are you JON FINER, deputy national security adviser? We want to hear from you (we’ll keep you anonymous). Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427.
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