With the next Presidential Inauguration little more than a year away, the Republican heads of the House and Senate committees overseeing the federal workforce have asked the GAO to watch for conversions of political appointees to career positions—so-called “burrowing in.”
GAO was asked to review periodically for such conversions, which are highly sensitive even though affecting only a tiny portion of the workforce. The political opposition of a current administration sees the practice as an attempt to thwart the policies of what they hope will be a new administration of a different party, while federal career employees voice resentment at the loss of opportunities to advance into positions, at least on an acting basis.
GAO has conducted similar reviews of the last several transitions. In each case it found some such conversions but in all but a few the appointee was deemed qualified for the job and GAO did not question the action.
In a 2010 report, for example, it said that agencies appeared to have used appropriate authorities and followed proper procedures in making 92 of the 117 conversions from political to career positions reported at the GS-12 level or higher by 26 agencies from May 2005 to May 2009. It identified seven conversions where agencies may not have adhered to merit system principles, followed proper procedures, or may have engaged in prohibited personnel practices or other improprieties; the other 18 conversions lacked sufficient information to make a determination.
The practice can occur at any time but is most common during transitions.
