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  Let us not forget NSPS for the Department of Defense. I know of a situation that occured in the Pentagon - where a career civilian employee, who had always received exceptional performance appraisals and monetary bonuses - was replaced with a friend and mentor of the general officer in charge. This person had no clue this was happening until he was booted out and into a lesser job. This general advertised the position as needed filling, selected someone while this person was still IN the position, hired his retired military buddy and former mentor, and gave the career employee a lesser position - and he got away with it under NSPS. The person who was in that job had no idea their job was being advertised until after this other person was hired. If it can happen to him, believe me, it can happen to anyone (he was a GS-15). Needless to say, that person left the Department, and numerous other personnel followed before he could do that to them as well. Check the hiring figures GAO - or aren't you even listening?? PS: the person replaced was a disabled veteran.

  Kathy Posted December 17, 2008 8:49 AM
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  The Clinton Administration had twice as many employees "burrow" in than this one, but I don't recall GovExec.com raising a stink then. Once again, ideology trumps facts in this newsroom.

  Ron Posted December 16, 2008 9:35 AM
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  The Obama administration should also look immediately for senior career civil servants who have been eliminated from their positions in recent months to keep them from conveying the full truth to the new team. Just as bad as "burrowing" is replacing highly competent executives with unqualified cronies to ensure political appointees' policies live on after they themselves leave. Those cronies are probably now in probationary positions in many cases. Start looking in Homeland Security first -- it's out of control!

  Assassinated Posted December 12, 2008 8:53 PM
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  Merit principles?! Now there's a concept. I've watched over the years as that concept has eroded into a meaningless abstraction. From SCEP to STEP, to Federal Career Intern, to Outstanding Scholarship, to VRA, to Persons with Severe Physical Disabilities ad nauseum - the list of ways one can obtain federal employment is vast and varied. Very few require adherence to merit principles. The rare burrowing pol is just another example of what's been going on for a long, long time.

  Nad Rettek Posted December 10, 2008 5:06 PM
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  "Burrowing" or "submarining" is another ritual of transition. It is important for the incoming administration to identify these appointments, but it is also important to determine whether the "newly careered" are serving within a probationary period. If so, "burrowers" can be easily removed, as long as they are within this period (usually 6-12 months). Incoming appointees need to move aggressively and decisivley or watch the will of the voters thwarted.

  Scot Faulkner Posted December 10, 2008 12:57 PM
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  It is clear that Mr. Katz knows his stuff...and does a great job of keeping the rest of us "in the loop". I hope he'll take off the gloves in his next piece.

  don green Posted December 10, 2008 9:53 AM
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  I always wondered about the so-called problem of "burrowing." If someone is competent, honest and gains experience in an agency, why not keep them around even if they were a political appointee? Anyone care to guess at what percentage of "burrowers" are incompetent, dishonest or inexperienced in their agencies? What percentage is high enough to warrant banning burrowing? I constantly hear that the Federal Government leadership ranks are only one line thick, so we don't want to lose any good leaders or good leaders-in-waiting, do we?

  GovObservor Posted December 10, 2008 8:20 AM