Political Appointees: Turnover Rates in Executive Schedule Positions
Requiring Senate Confirmation (Fact Sheet, 04/21/94, GAO/GGD-94-115FS).

The turnover among political appointees running many federal agencies is
such that the median length of service for these government executives
is only 2.1 years, hindering the stability and continuity of leadership
essential for effective management of federal organizations. Many
experts on public administration have expressed concern that the
frequent turnover of political appointees in the Executive Branch can
(1) disrupt program management, (2) cause key positions to remain vacant
for long periods, and (3) prevent clear assignment of accountability for
program outcomes. Generally, the median length of service of appointees
in cabinet departments was below the governmentwide median. Cabinet
departments also generally had higher-than-average turnover rates.
Because of differences in the statutorily prescribed lengths of
fixed-term positions, a governmentwide turnover rate or median
length-of-service figure for such positions would not be meaningful. GAO
noted, however, that term-limited appointees generally served longer in
their positions than their indefinite-tenure counterparts.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GGD-94-115FS
     TITLE:  Political Appointees: Turnover Rates in Executive Schedule 
             Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation
      DATE:  04/21/94
   SUBJECT:  Human resources utilization
             Personnel management
             Civil service appointments
             Hiring policies
             Public service employment
             Presidential appointments
             Government employees
             Comparative analysis
             Personnel classification
             Statistical data

             
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