TOP SCIENTIST RAILS AGAINST HIRINGS

Bush Appointees Land Career Jobs Without Technical Backgrounds

The president of the nation's largest general science organization
yesterday sharply criticized recent cases of Bush administration
political appointees gaining permanent federal jobs with
responsibility for making or administering scientific policies, saying
the result would be "to leave wreckage behind."

"It's ludicrous to have people who do not have a scientific
background, who are not trained and skilled in the ways of science,
make decisions that involve resources, that involve facilities in the
scientific infrastructure," said James McCarthy, a Harvard University
oceanographer who is president of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. "You'd just like to think people have more
respect for the institution of government than to leave wreckage
behind with these appointments."

His comments came as several new examples surfaced of political
appointees gaining coveted, high-level civil service positions as the
administration winds down. The White House has said repeatedly that
all gained their new posts in an open, competitive process, but
congressional Democrats and others questioned why political appointees
had won out over qualified federal career employees.

In one recent example, Todd Harding -- a 30-year-old political
appointee at the Energy Department -- applied for and won a post this
month at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There,
he told colleagues in a Nov. 12 e-mail, he will work on "space-based
science using satellites for geostationary and meteorological data."
Harding earned a bachelor's degree in government from Kentucky's
Centre College, where he also chaired the Kentucky Federation of
College Republicans.

Also this month, Erik Akers, the congressional relations chief for the
Drug Enforcement Administration, gained a permanent post at the agency
after being denied a lower-level career appointment late last year.

And in mid-July, Jeffrey T. Salmon, who has a doctorate in world
politics and was a speechwriter for Vice President Cheney when he
served as defense secretary, had been selected as deputy director for
resource management in the Energy Department's Office of Science. In
that position, he oversees decisions on its grants and budget.

Their recent career moves, along with those of several other Bush
appointees, highlight the extent to which personnel who started their
federal careers as presidential picks are making the transition into
civil service. That practice, known as "burrowing" by career
government workers, has been a regular occurrence in the waning days
of previous administrations, as well.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration was not
involved in orchestrating any hires of political appointees, and he
defended the right of political aides to apply for career positions.

"The White House has no policy on individuals applying for career
jobs," he said. "There is no deliberate effort to shift political
staff into career jobs."

At least one agency yesterday initially referred questions about the
personnel moves to the White House, but Fratto said that was because
the agency was wary of the media.

"We expect agencies to follow the rules as laid out" by the Office of
Personnel Management, he said. "If there is an instance where those
rules are not followed, OPM has the obligation and the responsibility
to follow up with the career officials at those departments and
agencies and take corrective measures."

But Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara
Boxer (D-Calif.), raised concerns about the shifts in an interview
yesterday.

"I believe it's unethical to do this. Clearly the people voted for
change," Boxer said. She said she had discussed the issue with members
of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, adding: "They are
on top of it."

Responding to congressional inquiries, Luis A. Reyes, deputy assistant
to the president for presidential personnel, sent a letter yesterday
to Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein
(Calif.) denying that a concerted effort was taking place.

"In hiring our Nation's Federal career workforce, the Administration
adheres to a rigorous, transparent and competitive process in place at
each agency that is managed by career officials and safeguarded by the
merit system principles upheld by the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM), without White House involvement," Reyes wrote.

McCarthy at the AAAS specifically questioned Salmon's and Harding's
qualifications, but DOE spokeswoman Healy Baumgardner said Salmon's
duties include "operational administration and management," which are
"not science-based." Baumgardner added that Salmon competed for the
high-level Senior Executive Service post against "a number of other
applicants."

At NOAA, spokesman Anson Franklin said Harding was selected in "a
competitive process by career executives" and "the position did not
require a scientific background, but a background in international
relations."

Akers, a former GOP Capitol Hill staffer who did not make the list for
the three best-qualified candidates when he initially applied for a
GS-15 job at the DEA, got a second chance last month when the agency
advertised it was taking applications for two weeks for a
soon-to-be-vacant job in the Senior Executive Service.

Acting DEA chief Michele Leonhart announced on Nov. 13 that she had
chosen Akers for the career position to help oversee a division called
Demand Reduction, a headquarters job that the agency had previously
told budget analysts it planned to eliminate.

A source familiar with the situation said the Justice Department
raised concerns about the initial plan to hire Akers without opening
the position for full competition. A Justice Department spokesman
declined to elaborate but said the agency instructed the DEA to make
the process fair and open.

Akers's career path within the DEA over the past three years has
yielded considerable financial benefits. For nine years before joining
the DEA, he worked for Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and as the
director of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control,
where in 2005, his last year on the Hill, he made $39,000, legislative
records show.

In his political "Schedule C" job at the DEA, Akers had a salary range
of $115,00 to $149,000, depending on his step. His new senior
executive position pays from $114,000 to $172,200.