By 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. The department with the highest number of conversions was the Department of Homeland Security, with nine appointees burrowing in.

Source: Fox News September 28, 2017 06:55 UTC