Be Careful what you wish for

It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires — usually at the conclusion of one administration. What often happens as well is Congressional staffers, before an election or shortly thereafter, will move over to the Executive Branch placed into the civil service, in effect, by appointment.

So, for example, when George Bush became President in 2001, a number of Clinton political appointees became civil service employees. As a result, they became subject to civil service hiring and firing rules, which meant they could no longer be replaced simply for having been a Democratic appointee.

This has gone on for a long time and it was instituted to prevent someone from being fired for their political affiliations. Well, this is coming to an end! In a memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); (http://www.chcoc.gov/Transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalId=2588) the Director John Berry, sent out a memo dated 11/05/2009 stating:

Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. OPM will review these proposed appointments to ensure they comply with merit system principles and applicable civil service laws. I have delegated decision making authority over these matters to career Senior Executives at OPM to avoid any hint of political influence.

In no case may an agency make an appointment of the type described below without written authorization from OPM:

A. The appointment of a current political Schedule A or Schedule C Executive Branch employee or a former political Schedule A or Schedule C Executive Branch employee who held the position within the last five years to a competitive or non-political excepted service position under title 5 of the U.S. Code.

B. The appointment of a current Non-career SES Executive Branch employee or a former Non-career SES Executive Branch employee who held the position within the last five years to a competitive or non-political excepted service position under title 5 of the U.S. Code.

So what does this mean? It seems that this is an attempt on the part of the Obama administration to purge the Civil Service roles of the opposition. If you worked for Bush, say bye-bye. Stated another way, “but for” the applicant having served as a political appointee within the past five years, all agencies would not be required to seek review from OPM for all agency positions. Effectively, the ONLY reason EVERY agency will now be REQUIRED to consult OPM is to “ask permission” to hire a person based on their political affiliation. In other words, how many “Republican” registered voters are going to suddenly find problems when they go to vote next year? All because of some error or oversight of course.

Just to give some perspective: The Democrats had a seizure when the Bush administration fired the U.S Attorneys –who serve at the pleasure of the President – and he can fire them whenever he wants. In this case, civil service employees – who do NOT serve at the pleasure of the President – can be fired because they have an R behind their names in the voter polls.

So what happens in 2013? If Obama cannot rally the minority vote like he did for his “historic” election, what will the Democrats say if the next administration purges the roles of Democrats?

Will the Demorats pull the Kennedy move prior to leaving office? In case you forgot; When Mitt Romney (R) was Governor 2004, the Massachusetts House voted to strip the Governor of the power to appoint a successor if Kerry won. Then in 2009, the House changed the law again to give Gov. Deval Patrick (D) the power to appoint a temporary successor to the late Sen. Kennedy until a special election is held next year.

Do the actions of the Democrats seem akin to those of third world dictators?