Behind the chaos: Office that vets Trump appointees plagued by inexperience

[DonViejo]

By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg March 30 at 11:28 AM

An obscure White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting thousands of political appointees has suffered from inexperience and a shortage of staff, hobbling the Trump administration’s efforts to place qualified people in key posts across government, documents and interviews show.

At the same time, two office leaders have spotty records themselves: a college dropout with arrests for drunken driving and bad checks and a lance corporal in the Marine Corps reserves with arrests for assault, disorderly conduct, fleeing an officer and underage drinking.

The Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) is little known outside political circles. But it has far-reaching influence as a gateway for the appointed officials who carry out the president’s policies and run federal agencies.

Under President Trump, the office was launched with far fewer people than in prior administrations. It has served as a refuge for young campaign workers, a stopover for senior officials on their way to other posts and a source of jobs for friends and family, a Washington Post investigation found. One senior staffer has had four relatives receive appointments through the office.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to surround himself “only with the best and most serious people,” but his administration has been buffeted by failed appointments and vacancies in key posts.

From the start, the office struggled to keep pace with its enormous responsibilities, with only about 30 employees on hand, less than a third of the staffing in prior administrations, The Post found. Six senior officials over age 35 went elsewhere in government just months after their arrival, documents and interviews show. Since the inauguration, most of the staffers in the PPO have been in their 20s, some with little professional experience apart from their work on Trump’s campaign, The Post found.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/behind-the-chaos-office-that-vets-trump-appointees-plagued-by-inexperience/2018/03/30/cde31a1a-28a3-11e8-ab19-06a445a08c94_story.html

[gratuitous]

1. That kind of explains some things, doesn't it?

Perhaps the popular media would be better served by reporting on what the Trump administration actually does than on whatever brain fart President Trump squeezes out during executive time? Instead of dwelling on "the best and most serious people" (yeah, we all get it; that's a lie), poke around a little bit and find out why this administration is such a never-ending parade of thoroughgoing assclowns.

[underpants]

2. The best people. Only THE BEST!

Buhleeveme

[Arkansas Granny]

3. This just proves the point that many have already made about Trump. He had no plan to govern

because he really didn't plan to win the election. He entered the race just for the attention and publicity. He never had a desire to serve as President, he has no idea what a real President does and he isn't willing to learn. It's amazing to me that he still has any public support at all, but I suppose that his supporters are as ignorant of the process as he is.

We'll make it through this Presidency, but he has done damage to this country already that will last for years.

[Angry Dragon]

4. +25,000

[RandomAccess]

5. Kakistocracy at work --

Kakistocracy - a term meaning a state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. The word was first coined by English author Thomas Love Peacock in 1829, but was rarely used until the 21st century.