Fedweek

The OPM memo, dated February 18, specifically calls attention to the appointment of Schedule C and noncareer SES employees to the competitive service. OPM will revive its past practice of requiring its pre-appointment review of such actions before agency approval. It also said that law prohibits the granting of awards to Schedule C or noncareer SES officials between June 1 of this year and January 20, 2001. Although the OPM memo does not mention it, another way political types sometimes get career status is through transfers from congressional staffs under a law allowing such moves called the Ramspeck Act. The numbers involved usually are much smaller than the potential for burrowing in from executive branch positions, but the practice causes much consternation in offices where the burrowing occurs.