House leaders demand answers on burrowing political appointees – By Jessie Bur (Federal Times) / Dec 1 2020
House committee chairs sent a total of 61 letters to agency heads Nov. 25 calling for information on politically appointed employees that have burrowed into career positions.
“Burrowing in” refers to politically appointed employees converting over to positions in the career civil service, and — while allowed with careful consideration and approval from the Office of Personnel Management — is a process that comes under intense scrutiny during presidential transition years.
Burrowing employees can be seen as an attempt by outgoing administrations to install employees loyal to their policies permanently at the agency.
“Protecting the nonpartisan expertise of the career civil service is essential to the safety and security of the American people. Federal law requires that personnel actions are carried out in such a way that the ‘selection and advancement’ of employees in the civil service are ‘determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills, after fair and open competition,’ rather than on the basis of ‘partisan political purposes,’” the committee leaders wrote.
