Once the domestic policy office could dictate terms to the Office of Management and Budget.

The policy office has not reacted publicly to her accusations and did not respond to several requests for comment.

As the panel's expert on social issues, Ms. Walwipha said she had reviewed some 10 projects, all eventually approved by the policy office.

On the pipeline, she won over the rest of the panel, only to be overruled by the policy office.

The policy office under Mr. Feith has been embroiled in a series of controversial issues over the past three years.

The Pentagon has moved to revamp how it deals with detainees and interrogations, creating a new policy office to handle these issues.

"I don't feel like I was ever duped," he said, calling the public policy office "ineffective."

She went to the White House, first in the press department, then as an aide in the domestic policy office.

"I served as a bureaucrat detailed to Governor Florio's policy office," he said.

The building houses Google's public policy offices.