Have you suspected there are still people embedded in the government who worked for Obama and might not share President Trump’s vision for America? You were right. In fact, there are quite a few of them.
FOX News reports:
Deep state? 78 Obama appointees ‘burrowed’ in gov’t, report saysBy the time Barack Obama’s presidency ended in January 2017, 78 of his political appointees had “burrowed” into government jobs over the course of six years, a report says.The report from the Government Accountability Office was obtained by the Washington Times.”Burrowing” refers to a process in which political appointees are appointed to career-level jobs to protect them from being ousted once a new administration takes over.Of the 78 such appointees identified in the GAO report, seven had switched to career jobs without first receiving necessary approval from the Office of Personnel Management, the report says. Four were later denied the positions and three later resigned.The department with the highest number of conversions was the Department of Homeland Security, with nine appointees burrowing in. The Department of Justice was second with eight conversions.
The article says this is not uncommon and that some Bush people burrowed in after his presidency, but Obama certainly never had multiple leaks springing in the early days of his presidency.
This is the problem:
“Not only is ‘burrowing in’ unfair to applicants without an inside connection, it further contributes to the possibility that federal workers may attempt to undermine the policies of the new president,” Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wrote to Obama, McClatchyDC reported.
Dave Boyer of the Washington Times has more details:
The Department of Homeland Security had the highest number of conversions, (nine), followed by the Department of Justice (eight).Defense had six. Treasury had five. Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. each had four.Three of the unapproved cases involved people in posts at the Education Department (a program specialist), at the Department of Health and Human Services (a senior adviser) and at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (a legislative adviser), according to a source briefed in advance on GAO’s review. In all three cases, agencies submitted materials on the conversion cases to OPM for post-appointment reviews.
This is undoubtedly having an effect on Trump’s ability to implement his agenda. It would be foolish to think otherwise. Brian Rogers writes at the Washington Examiner:
Obama holdovers are slowing Trump’s agenda in key agenciesWhen the sun set on President Barack Obama’s eight years in office this winter, conservatives hoped his administration’s legacy of crony capitalism and big government would end as President Trump began “draining the swamp.” But nearly eight months into the new administration, Obama holdovers continue to exert control over key federal agencies, to the detriment of the free enterprise system.The most egregious examples are the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, both still stuck today with Obama appointees pursuing liberal policy objectives and undermining the new president’s agenda through the federal government’s administrative state.For example, three days before Obama left office, his appointed FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez filed a last-minute lawsuit against the technology giant Qualcomm over their licensing practices, accusing the company of maintaining a monopoly over its chips used in smartphones.
The swamp doesn’t want to be drained. There are too many people living in it who enjoy the power and perks that come with membership. Trump has his work cut out for him.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY