Posted on 03/12/2009 6:36:26 PM PDT by 11th_VA
President Obama has announced his intention to nominate John Berry to serve as the next director of the Office of Personnel Management. A veteran of the Treasury and Interior departments and current director of the National Zoo, Berry also once served as legislative assistant to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
"From turning around the National Zoo to fostering a more productive work environment at the Department of the Interior, John Berry has a tremendous record of effective management in key public service roles," Obama said in a statement. "I'm confident that he will provide that same leadership at OPM to help ensure that government works for the American people the way it should."
The OPM director basically serves as the human resources manager for the federal government's more than 2 million federal employees. Among many other tasks, the director decides when to close federal government offices in Washington, D.C., due to inclement weather.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
comrade obama has done nothing that will create jobs.
He can’t even fill the available jobs in his own administration
Ha ha!
Looks like Hillary or Pelosi.
And openly gay.
Some animals are more equal than others.
By the way, has anyone noticed that the initials for the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, are also used as an acronym for “Other Peoples’ Money”?
A director of a zoo for director of OPM? Seems fitting especially for the government!
Best hire of the Obama administration to date. And, I thought they couldn’t top Biden. ;^)
Will I get banned if I ask which part of the zoo interested him the most?
The surrender monkeys?
It’s more than ideology. He’s gay.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/obama-to-appoin.html
Is this him?
This is what I think it’s all about:
Gay and lesbian federal employees stand to gain a strong advocate if Smithsonian National Zoological Park Director John Berry becomes director of the Office of Personnel Management.
If nominated and confirmed, Berry, whose name started circulating last week as the front-runner for the OPM position, would be the highest-ranking openly gay official in government history, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Advocacy group representatives say they are optimistic he would fight to expand health and other benefits for same-sex couples.
Leonard Hirsch, international liaison at the Smithsonian Institution and president of Federal GLOBE, a group that represents gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender government employees, said Berry’s record at the Interior Department, where he served as assistant secretary for policy, management and budget during the Clinton administration, provides clues to how he would approach gay rights as OPM director.
“Within what is possible, John worked within Interior on their nondiscrimination statements, their avenues of redress, training [and] benefits — the whole host of issues that helped [to] make the workplace one that’s freer from harassment and discrimination,” Hirsch said. “[His efforts] made Interior, while he was there, the model for all agencies.”
(snip)
Hirsch said if Berry becomes OPM director, he likely would change the agency’s approach to domestic partnership benefits. Government employees cannot enroll their partners in federal health care or relocation programs. Critics say the lack of such benefits imposes unfair financial hardships on families headed by same-sex partners and makes it more difficult for gay federal employees to move for their jobs.
Under the Bush administration, OPM opposed legislation (S. 2521) that would have granted federal employees domestic partner benefits if they abided by financial disclosure and nepotism rules.
Howard Weizmann, OPM’s former deputy director, said during a September 2008 hearing that the agency opposed the bill because most same-sex couples cannot prove their relationship through documentation comparable to a state-issued marriage certificate, opening the door to benefits fraud. Weizmann drew criticism for citing the 2007 Adam Sandler movie, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, in which two heterosexual firefighters pretend to marry to protect their retirement benefits, as evidence that such fraud is possible.
“I think what the president has done with the [pending]appointment of John at OPM is to say very clearly that this administration is disavowing the totally personal testimony that was given by OPM last year in that hearing,” Hirsch said. “I really can’t say that OPM had a policy. I think they made a decision to make a statement with no analysis. There will be analysis. John will walk in there with the facts.”
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0109/012109ar1.htm
It’s all about advancing benefits for gay partners throughout the federal government. He will be in charge of all federal personnel matters.
What my post failed to mention is that a Bush OPM administrator is a black female.
Get the cages ready!!
He is expected to make Fridays "Hawaiian Shirt Day."
Well....if the shoe fits.....{:-)
Ping
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