Also in the news: Bush converts appointees to career status

The Bush administration has allowed at least 20 politically appointed officeholders to become career federal employees, according to the Washington Post.

The Post reports that the positions include Interior Department deputies, appointees to the Senior Executive Service at at least two Labor Department employees. Others are trying to make the change, which requires approval from the Office of Personnel Management.

The practice, called "burrowing," creates job security for those employees and could block the Obama administration from putting its own preferred people into key roles, at least for a time, the Post reports.