The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin and Carol D. Leoning report on the phenomenon of "burrowing" where executive branch political appointees win jobs at the end of an administration as career civil servants. So far 20 Bush administration political appointees have burrowed into the federal bureaucracy. By the end of the Bill Clinton administration, 47 of Clinton’s choices for temporary and potentially political positions had attained career jobs.

Six of the Bush administration burrowers are at the Interior Dept. and have participated in controversial policies that prioritize private property over public conservation. Conservation groups and even Interior officials have spoken out against burrowing. But apparently there’s no institutional way– or enough public pressure– to stop the practice.-MB

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