NASA inspector general quits amid calls that he be fired

NASA's inspector general, Robert Cobb, resigned his post, nearly two years after several key House and Senate Democrats demanded that he step down. Cobb quit weeks after House Science and Technology Committee chairman Bart Gordon (TN) and oversight and investigations subcommittee chairman Brad Miller (NC) wrote to urge President Obama to fire Cobb. The lawmakers accused Cobb of abusing his authority, creating a hostile work environment in his office, and displaying a lack of independence from NASA management by his friendly social relationships with top agency officials. President Bush had ignored Gordon and Miller's 2007 request to dismiss Cobb; then NASA administrator Michael Griffin instead ordered Cobb to attend management training classes.

David Kramer