House Committee Wants Information From Agencies on ‘Burrowing’

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is requesting information from federal agencies regarding “burrowing,” or the conversion of non-career political staff to career positions, something which the Committee notes can create morale problems among the federal workforce.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is seeking information from federal agencies regarding “burrowing,” or the conversions of non-career political staff to career federal positions.

“Such conversions, sometimes referred to as burrowing, run the risk of favoring political staff at the expense of more qualified applicants,” wrote Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). “Conversions can also create morale problems, in that qualified career applicants who lose out on promotions to applicants from the agency’s political staff can rightly wonder if the process was legitimate.”

As part of its oversight process on the matter, the Committee is asking agencies for various documents on past instances of burrowing, such as documents showing the number of political appointees who were converted to career positions from September 1, 2015 to present.

A copy of the letter is included below.

2016-07-20 Letter to Agencies Re: Political Burrowing

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Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.