The Buzz

More plum positions, a failed audit, leaving Homeland, and satisfied customers.

More Plum Positions

The number of government jobs subject to appointment without full competition under civil service rules has increased during the past four years, according to a quadrennial report.

The 2004 edition of "United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions," a report published by the House Government Reform Committee, shows a 35 percent boost in the number of noncompetitive positions. Whether the increase is truly that substantial, however, is unclear because of changes in the way some Senior Executive Service positions are defined by the Office of Personnel Management.

The report, also known as the Plum Book, lists by agency those government jobs that are reserved for political appointees and other noncompetitive hires.

Among the positions tallied in the report are Senior Executive Service "general" positions, Senior Foreign Service posts and Schedule C positions allotted for political appointees. The report does not list employees hired under Outstanding Scholar or Direct Hire authorities, where normal competitive procedures are waived.

According to OPM, not all the SES general positions were included in the 2000 report, and a new definition of such positions-which can be held by career employees-was adopted for the 2004 edition.

Satisfied Customers

Citizen satisfaction with the federal government's services reached a record high in 2004, placing some agencies above the private sector average, according to an annual index from the University of Michigan.

The government received a score of 72.1 out of a possible 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index published by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan business school. The 2004 score tops the 2001 score of 71.3 as the highest grade.

The federal ranking is compiled through phone surveys of about 20,000 people who use government services.

Claes Fornell, a Michigan professor who oversees the index, said it's not surprising to see citizen satisfaction with government services at the same level as the private sector, considering the government's current spending levels.

"This is not a question of shrinking government, which would make it difficult to maintain this ranking," Fornell says. "People are very satisfied with their government services, and we are paying for it with the budget deficit." He says recent emphasis on agencies' service to the public through the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act and the President's Management Agenda also might be making a difference.

"When we see public opinion polls about the government, in general we get fairly negative results," Fornell says. "But that is very different from having actual experience with government services and government workers."

Rising Scores

The government's overall customer satisfaction rating hit a record high in 2004.

Pentagon Personnel Push

Approximately 60,000 Defense Department civilian employees will shift to the new National Security Personnel System during the first phase of its launch, scheduled for this summer.

Navy Secretary Gordon England, who is heading up the NSPS effort, announced in December that the NSPS labor relations system will be implemented across the department at that time.

The 2004 National Defense Author-ization Act gave the Pentagon authority to dramatically overhaul its personnel system. Those changes are expected to include a performance pay system and reduced collective bargaining powers for labor unions. Pentagon leaders also indicated that they wanted to streamline the department's appeals process.

The first phase of the deployment of the new system-dubbed "Spiral One"-is scheduled to begin as early as July. It will include 60,000 employees. The next two waves will follow within 18 months.

ON THE RECORD: Adm. Edmund Giambastiani Jr. ...

...heads Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., which serves as the "transformation laboratory" of the U.S. military, testing new concepts that are reshaping the armed forces. National Journal Correspondent James Kitfield recently spoke with Giambastiani.

On the meaning of "transformation": Let me give you two examples from my own career of what I consider transformative events. The first was the advent of the all-volunteer force in 1973. The second was the Goldwater-Nichols reforms of 1986. What is interesting about both is that they were imposed by Congress. In neither case did the military willingly embrace the reforms. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, senior flag and general officers at the time fought the all-volunteer force hammer and tongs. Yet today, I don't think you could find a senior officer who would like to return to the draft. We've also come a long way toward better joint operations since Goldwater-Nichols. That helps us understand that transformation is an all-encompassing, never-ending process.

On change imposed from the outside. As someone who tried to do it from the inside, who worked the old "lessons learned" process for many years and found it unsatisfying, I can tell you that on some days, it's just easier to have someone at the top telling you to get on with it. In the case of our current transformation effort, I guess you could say we're trying to accomplish it from the inside, but with a lot of help from the top and the outside.

On the "three levels of transformation": First, we're trying to transform the way the U.S. military fights wars and operates on a day-to-day basis. Second, we're trying to transform how we do business. Last, we're trying to transform how we partner with others. The number of transactions the military conducts per unit of time is much larger than any corporation in the world. Given that complexity, we experiment a lot with organizational theory, and we spend a lot of time studying various business models.

On the current situation in Iraq. We looked at what tools our folks need in that scenario to do their jobs. The Commanders' Emergency Response Program is a good example. After the money confiscated from the former regime in Iraq ran out, we found a hesitancy on the part of U.S. government civilians to distribute additional CERP funds to the military commanders because of concerns that they weren't following the rules for disbursing appropriated funds. After a lot of analysis, however, we decided that CERP funds were an important tool for military commanders. So we briefed [Defense] Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld and Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Richard] Myers to that effect. In the end, Secretary Rumsfeld was able to persuade Congress to appropriate U.S. taxpayer dollars to replenish the CERP accounts.

Leaving the Homeland

The Homeland Security Department is losing one of its most respected leaders. James Loy, DHS' deputy secretary, announced his resignation in December, effective March 1, or when a successor is named.

"His vision and commitment to the protection of our country during the department's early years will have a lasting effect for years to come," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said.

Loy led combat patrols in Vietnam, and he retired as a four-star admiral after 38 years with the Coast Guard. He is credited with modernizing and rebuilding the Coast Guard during his tenure. Loy also is praised for his management skills and expertise in maritime transportation security; under his command, the Coast Guard quickly mobilized to close major U.S. ports after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Loy previously headed the two largest agencies in Homeland Security: the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard. Together, they have approximately 100,000 employees, more than half the DHS workforce.