Obama Admin. Cracks Down On Burrowing -- Right Cries Foul

[SpartanDem]

In what may be another small dose of that precious change we can believe in, the Obama administration is taking steps to crack down on one of the Bushies' favored tactics for politicizing government: burrowing.

In the waning days of the Bush administration, we told you about some political appointees who had landed career jobs, with civil-service protections, at their departments -- allowing them to continue to exert influence under the new government, and making them difficult to remove. In fact, the Bushies were far from the first group to try this. The Washington Monthly's Charles Peters, who has chronicled the workings of the federal government since the 1960s, used to call it the "headless nail" phenomenon.

But now the Obama administration is trying to at least make it more difficult. A recent memo from John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, announced that starting January 1, his office will have to sign off every time a political appointee who was appointed during the last 5 years is hired for a career position. Right now, OPM approval is only required during a presidential election year.

Berry wrote in his memo that political appointees can't be excluded from consideration for career jobs, but they also "must not be given preference or special advantages" -- as appears to have happened in the past.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/obama_admin_cracks_down_on_burrowing_--_right_crie.php?ref=fpblg

[Cha]

1. I can imagine the ugliness that

is in the Government now from the bush burrows.

[Sinti]

5. It makes it very difficult for elected officials

change any policy in action, even when they manage to pass legislation. Laws regarding the practice should be in place to protect the American public against the potential development of a "shadow government" that remains in place, acting upon the plans of older administrations, even when those administration's plans have been rejected by the people.

The potential is there for a silent coup over a period of years and/or a real bare knuckles fight for every new president over the old guard - the potential is even higher if members of that "old guard" have held the presidency for several terms.

This kind of change sounds good to me :)

[NYC_SKP]

2. This is Not Change I Can Believe In...

Oh, wait.

Never mind. :P

Recommended.

[cliffordu]

17. AGITATOR!

:rofl:

[quiet.american]

3. K&R nt

[Hutzpa]

4. Ouch!

Hitting them in the gula....

This Is It.

[jgraz]

6. Good. The Right is not "crying foul" nearly enough for my tastes

Anything that pisses off the Freepers is good for the country.

[Hekate]

7. KnR. Good. Let them take Civil Service exams like everyone else, & provide a resume. nt

[ArcticFox]

8. Is this only prospective?

From the sounds of it, "office will have to sign off every time a political appointee who was appointed during the last 5 years is hired for a career position," this won't affect any of those people that Bush burrowed in.

[boppers]

9. Appointees from two years ago who haven't been hired yet.

That's what this covers.

[Quantess]

10. Interesting.

[Arkana]

11. Excellent move. He can finally dislodge some of those more persistent leeches.

[MadMaddie]

12. Fantastic!

The neocons are going to rant because their plan will have been thwarted.

[Odin2005]

13. BWAHAHAHA!!! Suck it, Neocons!

Your evil work shall be undone!

[BrklynLiberal]

14. To me they would appear to be moles.....who live in the burrows...

[Monk06]

15. This leaves the Bush moles in place and will only make it harder to replace

them with professional civil servants who will
be viewed as Democratic moles when Obama leaves
office

[divineorder]

18. But when thes moles resign

They can be replaced by professionals-especially if Obama gets another term.

[elehhhhna]

16. The OPM is totally outsourced to a subsidiary of THE CARLYLE GROUP.

So good luck w/ the OPM's cooperation lol