Few Political Conversions Found Questionable

GAO has taken a close look at the conversions of political appointees into career positions during the 2005-2009 period, and found that agencies appeared to have used proper procedures in the large majority of cases. Of the 117 conversions reported at the GS-12 level or above, in seven cases there were signs of prohibited personnel practices or other improper personnel decisions and in another 18 there was insufficient information to make a determination, said the report. Some of the improper procedures included pre-selecting particular individuals for career positions and selecting former political appointees who appeared to have limited qualifications and/or experience relevant to the career positions, said GAO, which added that of the 42 agencies it studied, 16 made no conversions during that time.