Burrowing watch: Bush appointed 18 administation officials last Tuesday alone.
By on Dec 7th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Burrowing watch: Bush appointed 18 administation officials last Tuesday alone.
With only 44 days left in office, President Bush continues to “burrow” people into government positions that will continue long after President-elect Obama is sworn in. “All told, Mr. Bush has made roughly 30 personnel moves since the November election, some in nominations that will require Senate approval, and others in direct appointments that will last well into President-elect Barack Obama’s term and beyond.” The New York Times reports that on Tuesday of last week alone, Bush hired 18 people for administration jobs.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Bush
Business
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
McCain
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Technology
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
I hope Obama fires their asses!
December 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pmAnd if a dem did any of this, especially after a November win of such large porportions, the neocons/repugs would be howling.
And the mainstream media would be “catapulting the propaganda”.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pmHis desperation to have a legacy belies his claims that he doesn’t care about his legacy.
At what point does this selfish little man get that he is incapable of doing anything positive for this country? Or, maybe that, is yet again, his point…
December 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pmDid Tyler Duvall burrow in the Transportation Department? Bush replaced his Transportation Undersecretary with one of those 30 moves. Did Tyler land a civil service job?
He’s a huge public-private partnership, free market transportation solutions guy. Tyler led Bush’s “congestion pricing” efforts.
Is he below the surface ready to steer that huge stimulus money to politically connected corporations?
December 7th, 2008 at 2:12 pmWhat’s to keep Obama from firing these people?
December 7th, 2008 at 2:13 pmWhat makes Bush think the Obama-appointed agency directors couldn’t fire them? Like the federal prosecutor in Penn. with a potential trick up her own sleeve, these rats may be looking to sue Obama through their undeserved career status if/when they’re terminated during his administration. I assume career status that would carry more job security, not that I’m opposed, but these rats will do anything to drown the same government paying them handsome salaries in the bathtub.
Bush ‘cooperating fully’ with this transition, my ass. If you reich-wingers hate the government so much and love free markets, why are you idiots so eager to work for the government?
December 7th, 2008 at 2:14 pmIt is time for congress to step up and pass laws limiting the ability of the out going president to make any appointments which are not subject to the approval of the incoming president. How can an already disfunctional government become functional with these “pro bushies” stuck in it?
December 7th, 2008 at 2:14 pmI doubt anything prevents Obama from firing these folks, but you can bet the lying liars in the MSM would have a field day with this “outrageous purge”.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:16 pmTuesday of last week alone, Bush hired 18 people for administration jobs.
– - George is doing his best to stem the unemployment numbers. These 18 were former Citigroup layoffs.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:22 pmMcWars Says: If you reich-wingers hate the government so much and love free markets, why are you idiots so eager to work for the government?
And not one of them has ever turned down the socialized health care they receive to instead opt for a private insurance policy. I’d like to hear them attempt to explain that one. And “I was just kidding” simply won’t cut it.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:28 pmIf the Senate approves any of them, I’d be surprised.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:30 pmYou have to RTA. Certainly I don’t doubt Bush will do his best to embed his ideology into our government for as long as possible, but he’s focused his efforts on making the “bailout” crisis as profitable as possible.
The appointments mentioned in the article are mostly small change at best. The ones Obama can’t cancel typically require Senate confirmation. Luckily, the danger of recess appointments has been held at bay by Reid … much too late … figuring out that the Senate doesn’t HAVE to recess at all.
This is no reason not to keep a sharp eye on an Administration that is determined to plunder as much as possible and to burn the rest, but so far, these appointments aren’t where the danger is.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:33 pmzooey – those damn obstructionists. This would give the repugs one last chance to scream about the dems before they start to filibuster EVERYTHING!
December 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pmrewinn – the last official act of any government is to loot the nation.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pmThese folks can easily be rendered ineffective. Bush knows this so it’s not about sustaining policy; It’s about doing favors. It’s the colossal waste of money that’s offensive.
During the Bush administration, Pentagon civil service officials who disagreed with the Iraq policy found themselves in tiny offices in the basement with neither a secretary nor even a working telephone. Obama’s managers will do the same thing.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:44 pmZooey Says:
If the Senate approves any of them, I’d be surprised.
If Bush doesn’t do the recess appointment thing, while they are a bathroom break….
December 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pmThis criminal administration continues to show contempt to the will of the american people.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:27 pmOh, great. Now we will have a whole flock of Linda Tripp moles to contend with. Watch your backside folks.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:37 pmIt was really more an infestation of parasites than an administration.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:39 pmThey can’t fire them, but the can create useless positions for them and move them. Not too tough to do.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:47 pmI don’t think they will remain long in the Obama Administration. If they don’t do what he wants them to do all he needs to do is to give them a desk in a cubby and give them grunt work until they get disgusted and leave.
Anything Bush can do, Obama can do better.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pmAnother Joe Says:
the last official act of any government is to loot the nation.
I think you got that slightly wrong. It should read “the last official act of any Republican administration is to loot the nation”.
I don’t remember Clinton doing any looting on his way out the door.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pmMarcus Aurelius Says:
What’s to keep Obama from firing these people?
Civil Service Rules. What he is doing is putting most of them into Civil Service jobs. But, Obama can have their bosses make their lives miserable until such time as they leave.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:59 pmSo this is the shadow government Jeb Bush called for…
December 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
I don’t think they will remain long in the Obama Administration. If they don’t do what he wants them to do all he needs to do is to give them a desk in a cubby and give them grunt work until they get disgusted and leave.
But, all the bosses have to do is give them such miniscule work that it CANNOT get accomplished and THEN fire their ass for poor performance. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Then hang them all for treason.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:11 pmFriday at 4:59PM, Oh BTW, Your job has now become the counter of grains of sand in this box. Have it done by Monday. Have a nice weekend. ANd show me all your work to get to the number, no rounding or extrapolation.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:12 pmNot to worry, Obama and crew will put them in their place, the basement..I wonder if bull shit bush was doing his part to keep the unemployment number’s down.? Nah, why would that pile of crap do one good thing for anyone, bet cheney is helping him with his christmas job list…Bull shit is to stupid to do even this on his own…Blessings
December 7th, 2008 at 4:22 pmPelosi and Hoyer are directly responsible for this bullshit. Bush and Cheney should have been impeached two years ago, but they had “more important” matters to work on. Those are two people I’d like to see defeated in 2010, and replaced with actual Progressives with a brain and a belief in the U.S. Constitution and the need to PROTECT it.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:26 pmDodd Calls for Firing GM’s Wagoner, Chrysler Merger (Update3)
Bloomberg – 31 minutes ago
By Lorraine Woellert and Nadine Elsibai Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said General Motors Corp.
Dodd Says GM Chief Should Step Down Washington Post
Levin says deal within 24 hours, Dodd calls for Wagoner to step down Detroit Free Press
that would be the least he should do…
December 7th, 2008 at 4:33 pmit’s worth is to read the NYT link…
[...]
The appointments and nominations mostly involved multiyear terms to small boards and commissions that most Americans have never heard about.
part of that drown-the-government downsizing?
But they highlight both the vestiges of power Mr. Bush can still exercise to leave a lasting mark on government, and the external limits to that power that are, in large part, the result of eight bruising years of partisan warfare.
All told, Mr. Bush has made roughly 30 personnel moves since the November election, some in nominations that will require Senate approval, and others in direct appointments that will last well into President-elect Barack Obama’s term and beyond.
Yet, unlike some of the contentious, late regulatory moves by the president, none of the appointments, and reappointments, have raised a peep of protest from the Democrats, Mr. Obama, or even the liberal interest groups that have so closely monitored his personnel decisions.
In part, Mr. Bush’s ability to make confrontational or highly ideological appointments is somewhat limited by the Democratic-controlled Congress in ways his predecessors were not.
thanks to harry reid… but, some “peeps” would be nice…
[...]
Mr. Fratto pointed out that Mr. Bush’s term is a full four years — not 3 years, 10 months and 4 days — and the president will not pull punches as he makes potentially still more appointments. “We actually do have not just the authority,” he said, “we have an obligation to do what we think is best for the country up until 11:59 a.m. on January 20.”
THAT is one b!tchy A-1 prrick.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:49 pmI’m sure they have the noblest intent and will be very cooperative with the Obama Administration.
OK, just we’re clear. That was all sarcastic.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:04 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins
I am not referring to legitimate administrations on either side that have accepted the will of the people.
I am talking about world history and the fact that when a criminal cabal runs government – they steal until there is nothing left to steal.
I should have been clearer – many think this is hyperbole, but had another neocon/repug hack taken over, they may have suceeded in destroying the “American Experiment.”
December 7th, 2008 at 5:16 pmThere will be a re-organization and these burrowing ground hogs will be placed in the basement. They could get bad reviews and get demotions. All Obama has to do is make them hate their jobs. Just think… these burrowing ground hogs are going to have to answer to Barack Obama.
December 7th, 2008 at 6:02 pmOT – what’s this?
the AP doing investigative journalism?
this part is confusing though:
Now Freddie Mac and its sister company, Fannie Mae, are in financial collapse and under government control. Congress is investigating how it all happened. Lawmakers have planned a hearing Tuesday.
The records obtained by the AP reflect growing concern within Freddie Mac over a chorus of criticism from Republicans worried that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had grown too big. The two companies owned or guaranteed over $5 trillion in mortgages.
The Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were sounding the alarm about the potential threat to the nation’s financial health if the fortunes of the two mammoth companies turned sour.
really? when was that?
’cause in 02 duby was pushing those loans to make sure no one had to buy a “lousy home”… EVERYbody gets a mcmansion!
just curious…
AP IMPACT: How Freddie Mac halted regulatory drive
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hGXB8-7MNyCqUeGzwsRJt4eLcWgAD94U1CVO0
ha!
December 7th, 2008 at 6:49 pmcheck this out… the whitewash has begun:
RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/achievement/chap7.html
Another Joe Says:
This would give the repugs one last chance to scream about the dems before they start to filibuster EVERYTHING!
The now wiser public is watching, waiting and hoping. Let the repugs, with their now tiny filibuster power restart their filibuster/blame the dems for getting nothing done crap and in 23 months we will clean more house.
By now they should think twice before again behaving so hideously.
December 7th, 2008 at 6:52 pmThere are so many ways to get rid of these leaches,don’t even give it a second thought. Republican dirty tricks and FEAR!……yawn…….
December 7th, 2008 at 7:02 pmI wonder whether he has decided which keys to steal from all the computers. I guess he has his choice of O, B, M,or is that M, O, B for his signout?
December 7th, 2008 at 8:13 pmOopsies! How do those italics work? Let me try again.
O, B, M, or is that M, O, B for his signoff?
If that isn’t right, I give up.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:16 pmMany of these Republicans who are “burrowing” into federal positions, planning on carrying on the Bush legacy in the Obama administration, were probably in place on 9/11 (and the months before) during one of the greatest intelligence failures in American history.
Can any of these culture of corruption Republicans be trusted?
Hardly.
Obama officials will have to keep a close eye on all of them, especially any “burrowing” from Cheney’s office, if these Obama officials can ever discover who’s been working in Cheney’s office, since Cheney has stonewalled anyone trying to discover who his hatchet men (and women) have been.
One of the first acts by President Barack Obama when he enters the White House next month should be to find Cheney’s staffing log and release it. The second act should be to tell the Secret Service to release all the White House visitor logs for the past eight years.
Total transparency. No more hidden Republican/conservative agenda.
Of course, Cheney will probably destroy his staff directory on his way out the door, and the White House visitor logs that the Secret Service is required to keep have probably already been destroyed, just like the White House/RNC/Karl Rove’s e-mails were erased.
Which means that all the “burrowing” Republicans will have to be waterboarded so the Obama administration can discover what terrorist acts these Republicans are planning to commit against the incoming Democratic administration. Just kiddin’. (Or am I?).
I doubt if President Barack Obama wants a Bay of Pigs or Waco Compound disaster to occur just months into his administration…and I really doubt that any of these Bush-holdover “burrowed” Republicans want to see President Barack Obama succeed in addressing and over-turning some of the obscenities left-over from the outgoing Bush/Cheney administration, so these “burrowed” Republicans will no doubt be working against Obama every moment that they are in position to do so, especially any that came from Cheney’s corrupt, evil, anti-American, neo-fascist staff.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:29 pmRethuglicans should be reminded early and often of the crimes that they caused by putting this thug and his crime family into power for the past eight years. Every person who voted for him, apologized for him, supported him, or has a (R) after their name is a guilty thug and accomplice to his incompetence and ignorance and thuggery. W is undoubtedly the worst thing to ever happen to this great nation and I cannot tell you why he is not as bad as the other despots in the world.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:55 pmIf these moles can’t be fired they can be reassigned to basement bilge duty.
December 7th, 2008 at 10:29 pmThe country is in need of a deep purging. Obama needs to bring in a policy wonk the caliber of Al Gore to right the ship of state. If there is a chance that laws have been violated, those involved should be tried and HUNG in the public square. Until the fear of justice strikes deep in the hearts of these evil bastards they will continue their Norquistian onslaught to overthrow our American government.
December 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pmYet the Bushies made up the story that departing Clintonistas removed the W keys from keyboards.
December 7th, 2008 at 11:40 pmBush is doing this out of pique, not principle.
It’s not surprising that he would take steps in this direction. His next move may be to pardon O.J.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:05 amI’m sure this sort of thing is nothing new. No doubt the Obama administration will be able to deal with it.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:09 amLet’s outsource THEIR jobs!
December 8th, 2008 at 3:02 pmLets just say “F.O.” to the MSM..what do we care what the MSM thinks or says..or whose knobs they polish..I never noticed the MSM ever trying to show much concern for “we the people”..never concerned themselves with “the truth” or the “whole story”..its been nothing but what is good for the MSM and the lies to back it up (and the slant that makes “we the people” so ignorant of all the facts and so willing to slit our own throats)..so let the MSM die..let them scream and thrash about in pain….in irrelevance!! Ignore them..shut them off..don’t buy from their sponsors..(most of us are just to poor to do that, any more, any way..and that comes from listening to the MSM in the first place!!)
December 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pmJust like the cold war when everyone who didn’t agree with the U.S. was either a communist or a communist sympathizer. toki This poor crazy guy spent half a decade being tortured because a bunch
of stupid politicians araç sorgulama were sure the NVA
was in bed with the Russians (minimal help) and/or the Chinese (ancient enemy of the vietnamese). ssk sorgulama You would think he would have learned from others’
mistakes. Guess not. Republicans need an enemy. key ödemeleri This
century it apparently will be all Muslims, kredi all of whom must
be alQaeda operatives.
February 28th, 2009 at 7:52 pmObama can have their bosses make their lives miserable until such time as they leave araç sorgulama
March 18th, 2009 at 5:13 am