“As we approach the closing days of the Obama administration, we must guard against inappropriate hiring practices to ensure merit-based federal employment and protect the independence of the federal civil service,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Beth Cobert, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.

The senator continued:

“With the results of the Presidential election, there could be an increase in attempts by the nearly 4,000 political appointees across the Federal government to convert to career positions. I am concerned that, due to the seniority of political appointees at many agencies, there could be pressure to approve these conversions outside the standard merit-based approach to federal hiring.”