Appointees: Minority Report

A group of House Government Reform Committee Democrats have issued a study showing that political appointments of women and minorities have fallen under the Bush administration, while appointees overall are growing in number. According to the report:

• Political appointments increased 12 percent between 2000 and 2005, from 2,479 to 2,786.
• A 33 percent increase in Schedule C appointments more than made up for slight drops in presidential and political SES appointments that likely resulted from confirmation holdups.
• Minority appointees dropped from 26 percent in 2000 to 13 percent in 2005--largely due to a decline in appointments of African-Americans.
• The percentage of female appointees fell from 45 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2005.--Jenny Mandel