Maybe because the findings are such a non-surprise, there's been about zero coverage of a new report, The Growth of Political Appointees in the Bush Administration (12-page pdf) from the Committee on Government Reform Minority Office that finds "the number of political appointees on the federal payroll has soared while the number of minority and female political appointees has declined dramatically." The highlights include
* The Bush Administration has expanded the number of political appointees in the federal government. In the President's first five years in office, over 300 new political appointees have been added to the federal payroll. The number of "Schedule C" political appointees, who are hired without public transparency or congressional approval, has increased by over 400, from 1,229 in 200 to 1,640 in 2005, an increase of 33%.
* The Bush Administration has favored white males in its political appointments. Since 2000, the Administration has added 564 white political appointees and reduced the number of minority political appointees by 273, representing a 50% decline in the proportion of minority political appointees serving in the federal government. In 2000, 26% of political appointees were minorities. By 2005, the proportion was just 13%. And as a proportion of all political appointees, female appointees have declined from 45% of political appointees to 36% over the same period.
* The Bush Administration has reversed progress made during the Clinton Administration. The Clinton Administration reduced the overall number of political appointees by 17%, increased the proportion of female political appointees by 15%, and more than doubled the proportion of minority political appointees. All three trends have been reversed in the Bush Administration.
I caught the mention while catching up with Dan Froomkin's always valuable White House Briefing on the Washington Post site, but I couldn't find any actual coverage. "President Bush has packed federal agencies with political appointees -- many with suspect qualifications," Froomkin quotes Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif), the Committee's ranking minority member. "The President has added hundreds of political appointees to the federal payroll, raising costs to taxpayers and reducing efficiency."