GOP's Grassley Faults Small's Smithsonian Stewardship

Small also made waves when he approved a secret agreement to sell special access to the museum's vast public archives to Showtime Networks. Hundreds of filmmakers, librarians and historians protested, and members of the House Appropriations Committee also expressed outrage over the contract.

The House committee has slashed the museum's proposed 2007 budget by $20 million, and amended the appropriations bill to say that no compensation package at the museum should be more than the $400,000 annual salary the president of the United States is paid. According to public records, Small's compensation, including salary, housing allowance and other benefits, was $813,000 in 2003, the latest year for which records are available.

Before sending his letter, Grassley met with Ritt, at which time, Ritt said, Grassley suggested extending IG audits to investigate executive compensation.

Ritt also said she had discussed the appointment process for the next inspector with Roger W. Sant, chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Regents. Sant could not be reached for comment.

In an interview yesterday, Ritt agreed with Grassley that her replacement should be hired by the regents. "Most IGs who have a board report to the board," she said. "If there's any disagreement from the head of the agency to the IG, I think it provides greater independence."

"The Smithsonian is an American treasure, holding billions of dollars' worth of assets, as well as priceless assets," Grassley said. "And it needs scrutiny from a strong inspector general to function well."

Portman's OMB office responded that it had received Grassley's letter and would review it.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has been looking at Small's role at Fannie Mae during the late '90s in connection with allegations that top executives inflated earnings to garner larger bonuses.