The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) slammed a senator Thursday for “distasteful, condescending remarks” after he wondered if a female government employee was washing her hair instead of being at work.
The OMB demanded an apology from Independent Maine Sen. Angus King after he suggested Deputy Director of Management Margaret Weichert was home “washing her hair” rather than attending a Senate panel on the backlog in government security clearances, in an exclusive statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Rather than ‘washing her hair,’ she was on the West Coast working on behalf of the American people at previously scheduled events focused on government workforce, women and technology. Sen. King owes Margaret, his own wife and daughter, and all women a sincere apology for his distasteful, condescending remarks. We look forward to hearing from him soon,” the department said in a statement to TheDCNF.
King and other congressional members met for a Senate Intelligence Committee panel Wednesday to question government officials and others on why there has been a pileup in getting security clearances for government employees. When King found out that the chairperson of the Performance Accountability Council was not present, he called the absence “ridiculous.”
“That’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?” King said. “The one person in charge of this issue, which is a very important issue, isn’t here because what? Did they have to wash their hair?”
The term “off washing my hair” was commonly an excuse women used to get out of a date that she did not want to go on.
The OMB pointed out that such comments aren’t acceptable coming from King, given that Weichert has over 20 years experience in her field, the department added to TheDCNF.
“America should thank Sen. King for showing the world his true feelings about women. Perhaps he believes that Margaret, who has 25 years of professional, private sector experience and 14 patents to her name, should be at home at his beck and call,” the department went on.
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King’s office did apologize to Weichert after TheDCNF reached out for comment on the senator’s statements during the panel.
“It’s obvious from the exchange he didn’t know the missing official’s gender but he’s sincerely sorry that he caused offense. He hopes Deputy Director Weichert will accept his apology so we can move forward and try to solve the serious flaws in our clearance process together,” Press Secretary Kathleen Connery Dawe told TheDCNF.
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