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Subject: When Conversion Means a Career; Panel Asks GAO to Survey 'Burrowing In' by
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 04:29:59 EST
Message-ID: <42.1992Oct29.042959@AmeriCast.com>

When Conversion Means a Career; Panel Asks GAO to Survey 'Burrow-
ing In' by Republican Appointees<By Bill McAllister<Washington
Post Staff Writer= Daniel G. Shillito bailed out of Washington
this summer, leaving behind his $108,300-a-year position as a
senior Interior Department lawyer to set up a new law office for
the department in Palm Springs, Calif.

Shillito said this week he was "drafted" for the job. It pays
$112,100, slightly more than his old position, because the South-
ern California area has been designated a high-cost location for
federal workers.

Even so, Shillito said, he cautioned his superiors that he was
not eager to make the move. "I know there is a problem with
this," he said he told them.

The problem Shillito mentioned is one that crops up every
presidential election year when political appointees like Shilli-
to transfer from political into career jobs in the federal
government.

The reasons are often varied. Some appointees say they've grown
to like life in the federal bureaucracy and want to remain. Some,
like Shillito, say they have special skills that make them quali-
fied for the jobs they secure.

Detractors call the process "burrowing in" and say it represents
the efforts of frantic political appointees to keep their jobs
when the prospect of their patron's defeat is likely.

Shillito said any idea he was "burrowing in" was incorrect. "I
had not any inclination for this job and I didn't hunt or solicit
this," he said, noting he was sent into the Coachella Valley to
help the Bureau of Indian Affairs resolve a chronic problem with
leases owned by the Agua Caliente Indian tribe.

The lawyer said he was not worried about President Bush's pros-
pects in August when he left his Washington job as associate sol-
icitor for conservation and wildlife to become a field solicitor
in Palm Springs. "And I still think Bush is going to win," he
said.  Yesterday, Democratic leaders of the House Post Office and
Civil Service Committee announced they will seek a General Ac-
counting Office survey of all the Bush administration appointees
like Shillito making such a switch between last January and next
April.

"Burrowing in is an example of Republicans believing they own the
White House," committee Chairman William L. Clay (D-Mo.)  said in
a statement. "Not wanting to live with the results of the elec-
tion, some are burrowing in, taking away jobs from more qualified
civil servants. If (Arkansas) Gov. (Bill) Clinton wins - and I'm
optimistic that he will, he should be able to carry out his man-
date for change without having Republican holdovers sabotage his
agenda.

"Political appointees should be on notice. The GAO and the Post
Office and Civil Service Committee will be reviewing every
conversion to make sure the merit system is not circumvented,"
Clay said.

In February, the Office of Personnel Management issued a warning
letter to all federal agencies, reminding them that all appoint-
ments to career positions be made "solely on the basis of merit
and fitness and without regard to political or religious affilia-
tions, martial status or race."

"While personnel actions always must meet legitimate management
needs, we must take special care over the coming year to avoid
even the appearance of political favoritism," said then-OPM
Director Constance B. Newman. "The records in all personnel ac-
tions must show clearly that the actions are proper and legiti-
mate."

OPM monitors all conversions at GS-9 and higher grades, and each
must be certified as proper by the agency doing the hiring. Agen-
cies must answer eight questions and assure OPM they have made an
effort to recruit other candidates for the position.

Thus far, OPM spokesman Dick McGowan said, the news media have
expressed more interest in conversions than have members of the
Bush administration. McGowan said he did not know of any contro-
versies over conversions or how many Bush appointees may have
sought career jobs.

In a 1989 survey, the GAO found a total of 578 political appoin-
tees from the Reagan administration who had opted for government
jobs, the largest number of which were temporary assignments.
Sixty-one of the total were Republicans from Capitol Hill ex-
ercising a little-known option that allows congressional employ-
ees at certain levels of service to convert to career status.
Like Shillito, 98 moved into positions as lawyers, known as
Schedule A appointments.

Agencies are precluded from converting any political (Schedule C)
job into a career job, a fact that forces most appointees to look
beyond their own offices for a career job.<02:34 10-29C9999-----

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.

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