It's no surprise that Jeff Neely, the General Services Administration official hilariously photographed in a sky-high bubble bath before that embarrassingly expensive Las Vegas conference left the agency. But why did it take so long?

Neely's been on administrative leave since April while an inspector general investigated how a 2010 GSA conference wound up costing $823,000 (for a clown and a mind reader, among other things), and it's been open season on his bubble baths and "birfday" parties since then. It's unusual that he didn't just leave.

Federal agencies, like many high-profile organizations, tend to take action pretty fast when faced with public scandal. Think of the Secret Service agents who were swiftly fired, or that EPA official who resigned days after some unfortunate comments he made in a speech surfaced? Not to mention Yahoo's recent management shakeup. The agency hasn't said whether Neely quit or was fired, but whichever it was, it smacks of delayed reaction, especially with the above photo hanging around.

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Adam Martin