# What can Obama do to purge Bush political appointees from civil-service jobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 22, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050 "2008-11-22T23:34:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/1 "2008-11-22T23:34:07Z")
In a time-honored D.C. tradition known as [“burrowing,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrowing_(politics)) Bush political appointees have been [maneuvering their way into jobs with civil-service protection,](http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2008/11/outfront-bushies-dig-in.html) so Obama can’t fire them. The Bush Admin [has been helping enthusiastically.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703537_pf.html) (Bush has also been [firing disloyal appointees and whistleblowers.](http://journals.democraticunderground.com/davidswanson/674)) Some of these new civil servants [are getting scientifically-relevant jobs even though they lack technical backgrounds.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112103359.html?nav=rss_politics/administration) The [civil-service](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service) system exists to prevent all the jobs in the bureaucracy from being doled out as political patronage in a [spoils system.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system) That is a good thing, I suppose. But this situation is going to be a problem for Obama: The upper reaches of the “permanent government” are going to be packed with persons who are not only undeserving, incompetent ideologues, but might actively obstruct whatever he tries to do. In particular, they might drag their feet on the indispensable effort to reverse Bush’s [11th-hour rulemaking.](http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/la-oe-brooks20-2008nov20,1,615228.column) So, what, if anything, can Obama do to root them out, without compromising the civil-service system? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/2 "2008-11-22T23:46:21Z")
He could actually hold them to the jobs they’ve moved into. Accountability seems to put the fear of God into most Bush appointees. ---
**Author:** ![Public\_Animal\_No.9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Public\_Animal\_No.9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Public_Animal_No.9)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/3 "2008-11-23T00:04:52Z")
The people highlighted in the Washington Post article all seemed to have been chosen for Senior Executive Service positions, which are somewhat different than the “GS” (General Schedule) positions that most civilian employees work in. The SES positions were developed to allow upper level agency executives to move them around, similar to the ways in which corporate upper managers are moved. That means that agency executives can require SES staff to change locations and positions, something that is much more difficult to do with GS staff. So if an SES person is not performing and carrying out the policies of the political appointees, they can be moved to somewhere less enticing than the SES person may have anticipated. DOE, NOAA, and DEA all have operations across the country, many of them quite some distance from DC. Even if agency execs don’t want to move them out of DC, they can certainly move them into positions that are essentially dead ends with no meaningful responsibility. And as **Enginerd** pointed out, they could be given positions with real responsibility and be allowed to fail themselves out of a job. If they succeed, then great. If not, they won’t have much in the way of support from above to make sure they get a soft landing on the way out. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/4 "2008-11-23T00:35:23Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > He could actually hold them to the jobs they’ve moved into. Accountability seems to put the fear of God into most Bush appointees. That should work on this guy: > [@](#): > > In one recent example, Todd Harding – a 30-year-old political appointee at the Energy Department – applied for and won a post this month at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There, he told colleagues in a Nov. 12 e-mail, he will work on “space-based science using satellites for geostationary and meteorological data.” Harding earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Kentucky’s Centre College, where he also chaired the Kentucky Federation of College Republicans. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112103359\_pf.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112103359_pf.html) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/5 "2008-11-23T00:48:22Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > He could actually hold them to the jobs they’ve moved into. Accountability seems to put the fear of God into most Bush appointees. It can make them more tractable, but it can’t make them any better qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/6 "2008-11-23T17:30:12Z")
> [@Public\_Animal\_No.9](#): > > That means that agency executives can require SES staff to change locations and positions, something that is much more difficult to do with GS staff. So if an SES person is not performing and carrying out the policies of the political appointees, they can be moved to somewhere less enticing than the SES person may have anticipated. Alaska. Also, as US military involvement is reduced, administrative processes to effect that change are still required. So possibly Iraq as well. The best position is to keep them physically where they are and change, if not eliminate, any duties that would be seen as detrimental to civil service, if not the new administration. Then it becomes relatively “easy” to discipline, if not terminate for cause. What Bush is actually doing is attempting to undermine the efficient and objective administration of the US government. In the old days, they were called moles or spies. Today we could use Bush’s own words and call them terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/7 "2008-11-23T17:41:07Z")
When I worked in state government, in a regulatory agency, an incoming administration swept most of the holdover incompetents into a newly created division with limited duties and little ability to interfere with the smooth running of the department as a whole. We referred to it as the turkey farm. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/8 "2008-11-23T18:28:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So, what, if anything, can Obama do to root them out, without compromising the civil-service system? They’ll get taken care of somehow. From Squink’s WashPost article: > [@](#): > > But Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), raised concerns about the shifts in an interview yesterday. > > “I believe it’s unethical to do this. Clearly the people voted for change,” Boxer said. She said she had discussed the issue with members of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, adding: **“They are on top of it.”** This’ll be fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/9 "2008-11-23T23:11:06Z")
What happened in 2000 / 2001 with Clinton’s appointees? Did they ‘burrow’? If so, then I expect nothing much will happen because Obama’s appointees may need to do the same in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-obama-do-to-purge-bush-political-appointees-from-civil-service-jobs/474050/10 "2008-11-30T21:34:42Z")
Who cares if Clinton did it or if Obama might have to do it (why, and according to who?) if the practice is unethical? Two or three or four or a hundred wrongs, by Republicans or Democrats, don’t make a right. It’s about time this despicable practice came out into the open. This is an interesting new development. [Federal Workers Unions Want ‘Burrowers’ Lists](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112901776.html?hpid=topnews) > [@](#): > > Two powerful employee organizations are pressing the Bush administration to prove that in its final weeks, political aides are not improperly winning career government jobs at the expense of more qualified workers. > > Leaders of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal workers, and the Senior Executives Association, the group representing federal executives, said they want the government to release lists of political appointees who have been hired for career jobs and show whether agencies sought competition for the positions. > > The two groups said they are pressing the Office of Personnel Management for this information because they are concerned the agency is not carefully overseeing last-minute hires of political aides. They point to recent reports in The Washington Post and other evidence suggesting political aides are leaping over qualified candidates or avoiding competition as they “burrow” into the civil workforce. > > “The recent Post articles raise the possibility that political candidates are being placed in Senior Executive positions for which they may be unqualified or less qualified than other candidates, or that their service as political appointees was given undue weight,” SEA President Carol Bonosaro and general counsel William L. Bransford wrote to the OPM. Such favoritism “is a disservice to those Senior Executives who were selected purely for merit without political assistance.” > > … > > In one case The Post found, the Drug Enforcement Administration director hired a political aide to a career Senior Executive Service job – the highest rank in federal service – about a year after the same candidate was rejected as unqualified for a lower-level position. The Justice Department initially raised concerns about the DEA’s plans to hire the employee with no competition. The DEA advertised the job for two weeks starting Oct. 26 and announced its selection Nov. 13. > > Bonosaro and Bransford said veterans know that jobs can be tailored for political friends and competition can be manufactured on paper by limiting the qualifications that will be considered, advertising the job briefly and narrowly defining duties. Political influence and pressure help clinch an unfair hiring selection, they said. > > “I think OPM has just turned their back on their obligation,” said John Gage, president of AFGE. “If OPM would do its job, they could make sure there weren’t any musical chairs to land political people in SES and other positions.” > > … Go get 'em!