The White House boasted Wednesday that has a better ethical track record than that of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“I think it’s fair to say that if you want to stack up the ethical record of President Obama and his political appointees against the ethical record compiled by Gov. Christie and his political appointees, that we’d welcome that kind of comparison,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. He was obliquely referencing Christie’s bridge scandal that ultimately saw several Christie aides quit or get reprimanded and for which Christie ultimately apologized for using lane closures to punish political adversaries.
The comparison came up after Earnest was asked about a report that Christie is advocating for Donald Trump to purge the federal government of Obama appointees and make it easier to fire civil servants.
“This is a policy priority that was identified and promoted by Gov. Christie,” Earnest said in response.
“One of the things I have suggested to Donald is that we have to immediately ask the Republican Congress to change the civil service laws,” Christie reportedly told GOP donors attending the Republican convention in Cleveland. “Because if they do, it will make it a lot easier to fire those people.”
Christie told the donors he worries that Obama would seek to “burrow” political appointees into the next administration by allowing them to convert their positions into civil service jobs.
There “is a specific process that certain political appointees can enter into to make themselves eligible for a career in civil service positions in the federal government,” Earnest explained on Wednesday. “And I know that political appointees in both parties over the years have availed themselves of that process.”
Obama has been mindful of the balancing act between retaining civil servants with important institutional knowledge and appointing his own staffers to bring fresh eyes to government positions, Earnest said.
“When it comes to Gov. Christie, I think he’s got a tougher case to make,” he added.
