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Bush Administration Moves to Protect Key Deputies
The Page by Mark Halperin — ... Washington Post: "The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates security for those employees..."       ...

Administration Moves to Protect Key Appointees
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... Office of Personnel Management, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants. Six political appointees to the Senior Executive Service, the government's most prestigious and highly paid employees, have received approval to take career jobs at the same level. Fourteen other political, or "Schedule C," appointees have also been approved to take career jobs. One was turned down by OPM and two were withdrawn by the submitting agency. Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20... More Scorched Earth - Bush leaving ...

Administration Moves to Protect Key Appointees
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... Personnel Management, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants. Six political appointees to the Senior Executive Service, the government's most prestigious and highly paid employees, have received approval to take career jobs at the same level. Fourteen other political, or "Schedule C," appointees have also been approved to take career jobs. One candidate was turned down by OPM and two were withdrawn by the submitting agency Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20... These corrupt bastards will not be ...

Bush Administration Moves to Protect Key Deputies
The Page by Mark Halperin — ... WashPost: Transferring political appointees into permanent federal positions will initially deprive Obama from installing his preferred appointees in some key jobs. Efforts taking place in the Interior, Labor and Housing and Urban Development departments.       ...

ThinkFast: November 18, 2008
Think Progress — ... “Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department’s top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies — including two former political appointees who have been involved in controversial environmental decisions — into senior civil service posts.” The move will “deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs.” ...

Kerry For Interior?
The Atlantic Politics Channel — ... As the Bush Administration's recent moves suggest, Interior has a major say in creating and implementing natural resource policy, an obsession of Kerry's ever since he came to the Senate. ...

Transition News 11/18
The Stump — Decisions on domestic spying will pose early tests for Obama. How the transition is turning K Street blue. WaPo reports on "burrowing," the way the GOP is securing jobs for some appointees. Is Richard Holbrooke vying to be secretary of state? Obama's appointment spree is a brain drain on the Hill, WaPo says. Stuart Taylor says Obama shouldn't try to meet global expectations with his Guantanamo decision. Economist says a Hillary appointment at state ...

Burrowing Bushies
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — The Bush administration is shifting dozens of key deputies into senior civil service posts, the Washington Post reports. "The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called 'burrowing' by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs..." "The practice of placing political appointees into permanent civil service posts before an administration ends is not new. In its last 12 months, the ...

Bushies Burrowing Into Career Posts At Interior, Other Departments
TPMMuckraker — The Bush administration's days may be numbered, but some loyal Bushies are taking steps to worm themselves or their subordinates into the federal bureaucracy, so that they can't be dislodged by the incoming Obama administration. The Washington Post reports: Between March 1 and Nov. 3, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants. In one example of what some Washington veterans call the "headless nail" phenomenon -- in which ...

More Bad Faith From The Worst President In History
DownWithTyranny! — ... They are frantic to do whatever it takes to prevent the Democrats from getting to that magic-- though largely symbolic-- 60-vote "filibuster-proof" majority and are doing all they can to steal elections in Minnesota and Alaska and are pulling out all the heavy guns in Georgia. This morning, though, the Washington Post outlines how the Bush Regime is hoping-- and plotting-- to cling to power even if they are shut out in the Senate. ...

Burrowing
Matthew Yglesias — ... “Burrowing” — a practice by which political appointees are transformed into career civil servants near the end of a presidential transition — is a time-honored Washington tradition, albeit not a particularly good one. And as with all bad aspects of the American political system, George W. Bush seems determined to make things worse. The Washington Post had a good report on the subject today, “Administration Moves to Protect Key Appointees: Political Positions Shifted To Career Civil Service Jobs.” Note, of course, that for key ...

Bush burrowing
Political Animal — BUSH BURROWING.... Michelle Cottle noted this morning, "Jeez. Looks like it's going to take a Brill-O pad and a round of antibiotics to rid ourselves of the Bushies." It's true; we're dealing with a team anxious to leave its mark for a very long time. Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department's top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies -- including two former political appointees who have been involved in controversial environmental decisions -- into senior civil service posts. The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially ...

Burrowing
Comments from Left Field — Yes, it’s true that other presidents have moved their political appointees into career civil service jobs, but none of those other presidents had spent their entire term(s) in office stuffing every nook and cranny of their administration with ideological hacks who only needed one qualification to get the job: a willingness to put Bushian ideology ahead of every other consideration. And then there is this: Note, of course, that for key regulatory positions Bush usually gave his career appointments to folks who were either officially or de facto industry lobbyists. So basically we’ll have the top layer of the civil service filled ...

Aren't these cretins gone YET??
Shakesville — You, gentle Shakers, are probably aware that Rachel Maddow has a running watch on the outgoing lame-duck administration she calls, "Quackitude." Her efforts are noble, but no one person is up to the task of keeping an eye on every possible way Bush can foul the well in his last two months in office. Liss tipped me off to this one. In a nutshell, the Bushoids are trying to ...

Dems Bash Burrowing Bushies
TPMMuckraker — ... a Washington Post report about the "burrowing" of Bush administration political appointees into career jobs at various departments -- most prominently Interior -- where it will be difficult for the incoming Obama administration to dislodge them. ...

Forgotten men
Brilliant at Breakfast — Does anyone still remember that there's a war going on? Does anyone care that as the Bush Administration spends its time doing everything it can to move ideological religious fanatics into civil service jobs and make it impossible for the next president to clean up his mess, that we are still bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the military is involved in covering up friendly fire incidents? ...

Conservatism’s Gut-Job on Government
The Republic of T. — Reading the headlines over the past week, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a single agency in the United States government that conservatives haven’t left in worse shape than they found it. I’ve been reading about demoralized government employees, under-resourced departments, and agencies left in shambles after eight years of Republican rule. A few days after the election I participated in a telephone survey about the outcome. The surveyor, at one point, asked me how I felt about the Bush administration and the congressional Republicans. After a couple of tries at explaining conservative failure, I finally blurted out, “People hate government, and ...

A Loyal Bushie Burrows Into Obama's System
TPM Election Central — ... The Bush administration's participation in the personnel tactic known as "burrowing" has been well-reported in recent weeks. The practice isn't unique to the Bush crowd; during presidential transitions, political appointees eager to stay on the government payroll often ...

Hersh: Cheney ‘Left A Stay Behind’ In Obama’s Government, Can ‘Still Control Policy Up To A Point’
Think Progress — In an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, host Terry Gross asked investigative journalist Seymour Hersh if, as he continues to investigate the Bush administration, “more people” were “coming forward” to talk to him now that “the president and vice president are no longer in power.” Hersh replied that though “a lot of people that had told me in the last year of Bush, ‘call me next, next February,’ not many people had talked to him. He implied that they were still scared of Cheney. “Are you saying that you think Vice President Cheney is still having a chilling effect on people who might otherwise be ...