Administration Moves to Protect Key Appointees

[deminks]

Source: Washington Post

Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department's top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies -- including two former political appointees who have been involved in controversial environmental decisions -- into senior civil service posts.

The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates federal sinecures for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs.

Similar efforts are taking place at other agencies. Two political hires at the Labor Department have already secured career posts there, and one at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is trying to make the switch.

Between March 1 and Nov. 3, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants. Six political appointees to the Senior Executive Service, the government's most prestigious and highly paid employees, have received approval to take career jobs at the same level. Fourteen other political, or "Schedule C," appointees have also been approved to take career jobs. One was turned down by OPM and two were withdrawn by the submitting agency.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

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More Scorched Earth - Bush leaving nothing of value behind.

[aquart]

1. Which is why we need the president to take office after the election.

Not after the bodies are buried. Two minutes after results are certified, change the locks on the White House.

[Tunkamerica]

3. that wouldn't stop this, they'd just do it sooner. Right? n/t

[aquart]

5. Not if they thought one of theirs was coming in.

[bdamomma]

18. in other countries they do.

I wish they would do it in the US, get those criminals out of the WH now.

[msongs]

2. just move them to a nearly empty office and take away all their duties - pay em 2 do nothing nt

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. THIS is the IMPORTANT stuff that needs to be taken care of in the first 100 days

ferret these bastards out....in the lower levels

[acmavm]

6. NOW this is bullshit. Federal employees have it set up so if they'r in the

right positions, they can't be gotten rid of? Not if they promote actions and policies that run totally counter to what the new administration wants?

Wow. Where can I get a deal like that? Or do I simply misunderstand the situation?

[juajen]

7. Well, the Bushies fired career Justice Department Lawyers, so,

I'm thinking there is a way. However, I don't believe "permanent" jobs with the federal government should be granted to people leaving one administration unless approved of by the new administration. There should be a law?

[ksimons]

8. just give them assignments that they are unwilling to follow

and fire them when they don't do their jobs.

"bye bye"

[glitch]

20. Managing toxic waste dumps, on site, seems appropriate. nt

[davidinalameda]

9. unfortunately, Bush wasn't the first to do this

if you read the article, some 47 Clinton appointees did the same thing

just more of the same old same old

[Mike Daniels]

21. You beat me to it (that Clinton did this as well)

Same as pardons which you know will start coming out soon as well.

[balantz]

10. Perhaps they'll fit in nicely with these guys:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Mr Hedley Bowes]

11. ITMFA!!! n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

12. The stink of Rove is palpable.

Damn, this sucks big time.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. Rove had former Civil Service positions made into non-career SES and Schedule C

to get his desired people in and now he is converting them back?

[No Elephants]

14. Guess he feels no need to be consistent. But, who said this is Rove?

[BumRushDaShow]

16. From what I have read over the years

Rove, as Shrub's Senior advisor, was one of the ones who not only helped to compile a list of senior appointees, but also put together the recommendation lists for what I term "sub-appointees" - those below the ones that the President directly appoints. I.e., the Department and agency heads have layers of staff that they can appoint without need for Senate confirmation. These are the Schedule C (where the higher ones are non-career SES).

[AllentownJake]

15. Give them all assignments in Alaska

studying the mating habbits of bears.

[annabanana]

17. They can be moved. The state of The Presidency as left to Obama BY B*SH

means that their job can be defined by the Administration to the extent that their actual duties can be shifted to things that would be able to do less damage (and probably get them to quit).

[sofa king]

23. Yep. A friend of mine had that happen to her.

She was working for the Office of the Solicitor in the Interior Department. When she made some moves that pissed off the Nixon Administration, they stripped her of most of her authority and moved her into a windowless basement office in an auxiliary building. But they couldn't fire her, and she was too pissed off to quit.

Curiously enough, when Bush took over one of the very first things they did was move the entire Bureau of Indian Affairs out of the main Interior building and across the street to the very same crappy old building. Now the Office of Federal Acknowledgment--the whole lot of 'em--is crammed into "the dungeon."

But the Indians haven't quit or gone away, either.

[investintrains]

19. it was the Bush regime which sued California about electric cars

it was the Bush regime which sued California about electric cars
and forced their dismantling
.. and then 1st unelected Bush's VP Quayle bought Chrysler for
private equity Cerberus

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. This needs a