OPM head warns against 'burrowing in'
Agency leaders should be wary of political appointees trying to make their positions more permanent as the election draws near, John Berry says.
Watch out for burrowers, warns Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry.
"Burrowing in” is the slang term for political appointees trying to turn their positions into career civil service jobs so they can stay on even when a new president comes into office, or even when a first-term president gets re-elected. According to a report in Federal Times, Berry has issued a memo to the leaders of agencies to remind them that personnel actions must “remain free of political influence or other improprieties and meet all relevant civil service laws, rules and regulations.”
"Critics such as federal labor unions and management associations say that the practice [of burrowing in] corrupts the federal government’s merit system," wrote Stephen Losey in the Times.