Report: Some appointees improperly got career jobs

Most political appointees who have switched to career positions since 2001 did so using the correct process, but 18 such conversions were improperly made and many more were not sufficiently documented, according to a new report.

In a survey of 41 agencies, Government Accountability Office reviewers found 144 people converted from noncareer to career positions from May 1, 2001, through April 30, 2005 -- a move known as "burrowing in." Most of those conversions took place at the departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Defense and Treasury.

"The ability to convert noncareer employees to career positions is an appropriate and valuable process available to agencies," reviewers stated in the report (GAO-06-381). But they found that of the 130 appointees at the GS-12 level or higher who were converted, 18 may not have followed procedures designed to ensure proper application of merit system principles.

The reviewers found that agencies circumvented proper procedures in a variety of ways. In some cases, agencies did more than one of the following: created new career positions specifically for particular individuals, tailored job descriptions to match the resumes of the appointee in question, prevented other potential candidates from applying, selected appointee candidates who were less qualified than other applicants, or failed to honor veterans' preference rules in cases where a veteran would have scored higher than the appointee.

In seven of the 18 cases, the Office of Personnel Management had reviewed the conversion, either because of the position's senior level or its proximity to a presidential election, and allowed it to go forward.

In another 19 cases, reviewers lacked sufficient documentation to verify the hiring procedures used. An exception to OPM hiring guidelines allows agencies flexibility in hiring for "excepted service" positions, which include civil-service wide attorney spots as well as jobs within the generally national security- and intelligence-related excepted service agencies.

For those positions, agencies design their own hiring and documentation processes. Of the 19 conversions for which reviewers found inconclusive documentation, 16 were excepted service positions at the Justice Department which reviewers were unable to trace back through the hiring process. In some cases, the department was unable to produce a copy of the individual's job application, the report noted.

As a result of these findings, GAO recommended that OPM investigate the 18 instances of improper conversions found, and consider conducting some oversight of agencies' excepted service hiring. In response to the draft report, OPM Director Linda Springer concurred with the recommendations, and said the agency would incorporate such oversight into a related, existing review.

"Such improper conversions, which occur through unfair competitive advantages given to political appointees, are a threat to the civil service system both because they implant less qualified personnel into the government and because they tarnish the integrity of the federal merit-based hiring system," wrote Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., the senior members of the House Government Reform Committee who had requested the report.

The legislators urged OPM to take decisive action on the recommendations, noting, "The merit-based federal workforce is critical to ensuring a competent government that will enforce laws consistently across administrations."