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Subject: THE FEDERAL DIARY=Political Pink Slips=By Mike Causey=Washington Post Staff
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 04:42:06 EST
Message-ID: <23.1992Nov12.044207@AmeriCast.com>

THE FEDERAL DIARY=Political Pink Slips=By Mike Causey=Washington
Post Staff Writer=

Dear Mr. Smith:

This is to notify you that your service as . . .  will be ter-
minated as of the close of business, Jan. --, 1993.

Under law, incoming leadership has the authority to select staff
with whom it has personal confidence to carry out its policy
goals. This often necessitates the replacement of existing per-
sonnel. As a result, this action should not be construed in any
way as a reflection on you personally or on your performance in
the prior administration.

Sincerely yours,

(Name)

(Title)

The above letter is the short version of three form letters that
Clinton administration officials shortly will begin sending near-
ly 3,000 Bush administration appointees.

The short form is for political appointees who have no status
(prior federal, congressional or military service, etc.) in their
jobs. In many cases, once they get the letter they are gone.

Letter No. 2, which is longer and with more conciliatory
language, gives 30 days' notice to "policy-determining" appoin-
tees who have some kind of status who may seek to stay on in
another government job. Letter No. 3 is for "confidential" em-
ployees, such as secretaries or chauffeurs, who may be kept on
the payroll until any job claim they make (based on their status)
is reviewed.

The Nov.  3 election didn't make it illegal to be a high-level
Republican in government, just unfashionable.

Some news stories have made it appear that the halls of govern-
ment will be awash with blood as thousands of patronage-starved
Democrats battle entrenched Republican appointees for plum jobs.
The same stories also predict a new age for Washington's rela-
tively depressed real estate market as the old guard sells out to
the new.

In fact, area real estate people say the transition will be a
blip on the sales screen, since only about 3,000 political
changeovers are expected. There could be more job turnover on
Capitol Hill. But many of the newcomers are likely to be renters
rather than buyers.

Some political appointees, who know their days are numbered in
their current jobs, are amused and ticked off at reports that
congressional Democrats and the General Accounting Office are
carefully watching to see that Republican appointees don't burrow
into civil service jobs.

Civil service rules prohibit converting political appointees to
career jobs, or stripping political or policy-making jobs of
their political duties to turn them into career positions.

But some Bush appointees could wind up in others parts of the
government in career jobs, based on their past federal service
and job skills. Several have 20 or more years of government ser-
vice (some in the career civil service) and need a few more years
to qualify for pensions and health insurance benefits as re-
tirees.

Under civil service rules, it is just as wrong to deny a quali-
fied person a government job because of political affiliation as
it is to offer a job because of political affiliation.<02:21 11-
12C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

For more information, send-email to American Cybercasting Cor-
poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)