Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Iowa for the time today to talk about this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak on behalf of the Political Appointee Burrowing Prevention Act. This important legislation addresses a problem affecting our Federal workforce. Our Federal civil service hiring process is supposed to be a competitive, merit-based system where the best and brightest individuals are considered based on their qualifications and ability to do their job, not because of their political connections. However, we have seen a concerning trend where excepted service employees, specifically political appointees, are converted into high-paying, lifelong civil service positions, bypassing the normal competitive hiring process. This process, also known as ``burrowing,'' defeats the purpose of having a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service. In fact, the Government Accountability Office reports that the Obama administration converted 78 political appointments into career positions, while the Bush administration allowed 135 political appointees to burrow into career positions. This trend raises significant concerns that individuals who were not chosen based solely on their merits may, at best, not be the most qualified candidate for the job, or, at worst, may not be willing to properly execute the law under a new administration. {time} 1530 Political appointees are supposed to serve their appointing President's agenda for a temporary period of time.…”