D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 6, r. 6-B1621
Whenever an employee is served a notice of proposed or summary action, he or she may submit a written response to the appropriate official identified in the notice. In the case of removals, the appropriate official shall be a hearing officer appointed pursuant to § 1622. Otherwise, the appropriate official shall be the deciding official.
An agency head shall authorize an employee to use official time to prepare a written response to any notice of proposed action in the following amounts of administrative leave: up to four (4) hours for proposed corrective actions, and up to ten (10) hours for proposed adverse actions.
Written responses must be received by the appropriate official according to the following schedule:
Upon application by the employee and a showing of good cause, the deciding official, or in the case of removal the hearing officer, may grant a reasonable extension of time to the limits prescribed by § 1621.3.
The right to respond shall include the right to present evidence that the employee believes might affect the final decision on the proposed or summary action. Such evidence may include written statements of witnesses, affidavits, or documents or any other form or depiction of information.
As a written part of his or her response, an employee shall raise every defense, fact, or matter in extenuation, exculpation, or mitigation of which the employee has knowledge or reasonably should have knowledge or which is relevant to a reason for which the employee took an action (of failed to take an action) which is a subject of the proposed or summary action. The failure of the employee to raise a known defense, fact, or matter shall constitute a waiver of such defense, fact, or matter in all subsequent proceedings.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 6, r. 6-B1621