Legistorm: Transparency's Sidekick

Political appointees at the 30 federal agencies GAO reviewed accounted for 91 percent of the nearly 2,500 appointees governmentwide as of the end of 1991. Except for cyclical drops in the number of appointees during the first year of new administrations (1989 and 1981), there was little change in the total number of appointees at the 30 agencies and governmentwide during the 10-year period. Half of all appointees governmentwide were clustered at the following eight agencies: the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Energy, Education, State, and Justice, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Governmentwide, about 29 percent of the political appointees were noncareer senior executive service appointees in 1991, with about half of the 30 agencies exceeding this governmentwide average. At several smaller agencies, all appointees were Schedule C appointees. Smaller agencies also tended to have a higher ratio of political appointees to full-time permanent employees.