RCUD DEC 30 2010 UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Washington, DC 2041.5 Ms 'tSyatema ?it - 1:11;; Compliange? f" The Honorable William E. Reukauf Acting Special Counsel US. Of?ce of Special Counsel 1730 Street NW, Suite 218 Washington, DC 20036-4505 Dear Mr. Reukauf: On August 4, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to convert Mr. Nathan Bruggeman from his Schedule political position to the position of Border Security Specialist, 1801-13, in the Office of Policy and Planning, Of?ce of the Commissioner, US. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The position is one of ten excepted service positions DHS is authorized to fill under Schedule A authority at title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, section 0PM denied the request after we found evidence that the agency manipulated the hiring process to give Mr. Bmggeman inappropriate advantage. Speci?cally, the agency did not follow its own procedures for making a Schedule A appointment. The agency should either have used a recruitment brochure or bulletin for service-wide recruitment, or notified functional managers, recruitment personnel, and HR staff if targeted recruitment was used instead. In this case, CBP did not use either approach to solicit applications or recruit candidates. Instead, the agency considered only Mr. Bruggeman for the position. No other candidates were interviewed or even considered. The agency claimed that Mr. Bruggeman was uniquely quali?ed for the job and there was no need to look elsewhere. We found that not to be the case. CBP Commissioner Bersin, who had worked with Mr. Bruggernan before, essentially hand-picked Mr. Bruggernan, who was minimally quali?ed at best. OPM believes prohibited personnel practices may have been committed under 5 US. Code, sections 2302 and (12). I am referring this matter to your of?ce for investigation. I have enclosed a copy of the decision letter OPM sent to DHS. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at (202) 606-2786 or at I appreciate your assistance. Recruit. Retain and Honor a World-Class Work-force to Serve the American People The Honorable William E. Reultauf Sincerely, a i ey Sumberg Associate Director Merit System Audit and Compliance Enclosure CC: Mr. Jeffrey R. Neal Chief Human Capital Of?cer Of?ce of the Chief Human Capital Of?cer U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528