Quick fact: Fox Nation pushes Limbaugh's false claim that Obama is “purging Republicans from civil service”

Fox Nation advanced the false claim pushed by RedState.com's Erick Erickson and repeated by Rush Limbaugh that President Obama is, in Fox Nation's words, “Purging Republicans from Civil Service.”

The November 12 Fox Nation post, which links to a HotAirPundit blog post featuring video and transcript of Limbaugh's November 12 claims, in which he read from Erickson's post:

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Fact: OPM memo does not deal with jobs that former political appointees already hold

In the memorandum cited by Limbaugh and Erickson, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director John Berry does not address the current job of any civil-service employee. Rather, he directs federal agencies beginning January 1, 2010 to “seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level” if that individual has been a political appointee within the previous five years. This requirement applies to current Obama administration appointees as well as Bush administration appointees who served during that period. Furthermore, the memo explicitly states that “political appointees may not be excluded from consideration for Federal jobs because of their political affiliation.”

Fact: OPM already reviews hiring of some political appointees

Federal law requires agencies to seek OPM approval for some positions during presidential election years. OPM's review of hiring had previously been limited to jobs at the Senior Executive Service level during years in which presidential elections are held. The policy change expands that practice to employees at all levels every year.