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| Government |
| Job 'Burrowing' at the VA - The danger with politcal appointees |
| 2016-05-29 |
| [Daily Caller] An Obama administration political appointee has "burrowed" into a high-level career civil service job at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), highlighting efforts by backers of the outgoing chief executive to implant themselves permanently into the federal bureaucracy in the waning months of his presidency. Gina Farrisee was named deputy of chief of staff of the VA earlier this month, thus complicating the next president’s VA secretary’s ability to choose his own inner circle but securing high and continuing pay for Farrisee, whose job otherwise would have ended this year. Burrowing refers to politically appointed government employees who transfer to career civil service jobs that allow them to continue working long after the politician who appointed them has completed his term in office. It's traditionally regarded as highly improper, because the career civil service is not supposed to reward political connections and is supposed to select new hires on merit-based competition. The VA did not advertise the deputy-chief job and would not say if other candidates were interviewed. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is tasked with ensuring that political henchmen don’t entrench themselves in the final year of a presidency, but it granted a special exception for Farrisee, even though the appointment has all the hallmarks of blatant burrowing, and it is unclear that her case would have met the guidelines used in determining waivers in the few cases that are granted. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #3 Pappy, what you regard as problems they regard as features. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2016-05-29 21:13 |
| #2 Seems to be lots of problems with senior civil servants at the VA. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-05-29 17:23 |
| #1 Transfer the bitch to Nome - that'll fix it. |
| Posted by: Raj 2016-05-29 13:37 |