OSC said the disciplinary actions taken are the first complaints against management officials in over 30 years. It said that when Bersin found out he had been selected as CBP commissioner he set out to hire three members of his confidential political team from when he served as the DHS secretary’s special representative for border affairs. (Those individuals also had worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign.)
OSC alleges that the individuals named in the complaints knew Bersin wanted to hire his former colleagues, but there were no political positions to which they could be appointed noncompetitively. To get around that obstacle, OSC said the CBP HR official named in the complaint “willfully engaged in improper tactics to manipulate the competitive examination process to select and appoint Bersin’s three political employees” to competitive career positions. It said job descriptions were crafted to fit the resumes of the preferred hires while disqualifying others.
Yet, two of the favored candidates still couldn’t meet the minimum qualification requirement of one year of relevant experience, but HR still found a way to make them available for the positions.
The DHS CHCO disapproved of the attempts to hire the three political employees for career service, but not giving up, the then deputy assistant commissioner tried to use a special noncompetitive appointment authority to convert a political appointee to a career position, and in the process violated CBP policy, OSC said. Ultimately OPM denied that conversion as well. All those involved face disciplinary action.
