I know President Barack Obama still has hundreds of positions to fill. But the top job at the Office of Special Counsel would seem to be an important one. The agency hasn’t had political leadership since October 2008, when the Bush administration forced Bloch to resign.

OSC employees I’ve talked to generally say the agency needs some reorganization, but William Reukauf, the acting special counsel, told me last year that he planned to act as a caretaker. Reorganization, in other words, would have to wait for political leadership. He told Government Executive in May that the agency is “looking forward anxiously” for a new political leader.

Just one problem: When Bloch applied for his law license, he forgot to mention the fact that he’s under criminal investigation by the FBI, according to TPMMuckraker.

A clerk for the D.C. courts told TPM that — if Bloch had admitted the investigation on his application — it might have disqualified him from receiving a license, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Lest you think Bloch is trying to hide his controversial tenure, though, let me direct you to his bio on the law firm’s Web site (emphasis mine):

He served two years in the United States Department of Justice as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General on matters involving constitutional litigation, and for five years was the government’s chief enforcer of federal employment rights and whistleblower disclosures where he attained notoriety as the head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

His “notoriety” includes allegations of improper retaliation against a number of employees who aired problems at the agency. Two top staffers left in the final months of Bloch’s tenure. And in May of 2008, the FBI raided his home and office under grand jury subpoenas, apparently in search of evidence that he obstructed justice.

We did a full round-up of the Bloch controversy last May, and in September I did the first interview with Bloch following the FBI raid.

Send a check to the Scott Bloch Legal Defense Trust! (Donations are not tax-deductible, sorry.)

The recently-retired special counsel is looking for help to defray his mounting legal costs. Bloch was forced out of office last week, an event that capped years of controversy surrounding his tenure, but still faces an ongoing grand jury investigation.

The Web site includes praise for Bloch from a number of conservative luminaries, including Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes, Heritage Foundation co-founder Paul Weyrich, and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)

Noticeably absent is any praise from current or former employees of the Office of Special Counsel.

Today, apparently, the White House decided that wasn’t soon enough.

Bloch was called to 1600 Pennsylvania for a meeting this morning and was dismissed from the agency, according to sources. OSC is holding an all-hands meeting right now so Bloch can break the news.

More details as they come…

Update: Sources say the Federal Protective Service prevented Bloch from re-entering the agency’s M Street offices after his meeting at the White House.

Update II: Background on the strange case of Scott Bloch.

Update III: According to OSC spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, William Reukauf, the senior associate special counsel, will take over Bloch’s post on an acting basis.

Update IV: According to the White House, Bloch will be placed on administrative leave for the duration of his term.

Bloch had the option to stay for one more year (or until the Senate confirms the next special counsel, whichever comes first), but he declined to stick around.

Bloch’s announcement is true to his word from an interview two months ago, when I asked Bloch about the increasingly vocal calls for his resignation:

But when asked about the criticism, Bloch rejected the idea that his office has a morale problem; he said he has every intention of finishing his five-year term, which ends in January.

“I’ve had those calls since I came in,” Bloch said. “But I’ve done my job. I’ve almost filled out my term, and I’ll go when I want to go.”

A spokesman for Bloch’s office said there was no particular reason why he was leaving on Jan. 5. “It’s pretty self-explanatory,” he said.

The latest is the Project on Government Oversight, which today issued a set of recommendations for the next president. Many of them are obvious good-government suggestions, but many also come at opportune times.

POGO points out, for example, that the government’s oversight and regulatory role has been “decimated” in recent years. Given the recent scandals at the Minerals Management Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, that’s not an overstatement.

There’s also a call for inspectors general to have more independence from their agency heads. The IG bill passed by Congress (pdf) earlier this month is a promising start; it gives IGs a stronger voice in requesting their budget, and makes them harder to remove from office.

The group also called on the next president to “strengthen federal employee whistleblower protections.” Given POGO’s longstanding criticism of Special Counsel Scott Bloch, that’s probably a call for the next president to quickly appoint a replacement.