ily than they can repair damage inherited from their predecessors. Steven Potts, head of the Office of Government Ethics, offered a cautionary word to counter the standard feeling of appointee newcomers that they should be "super careful and protect themselves" from the careerists. His advice was to consider that feeling carefully to see if it was really necessary or helpful. "There's a danger of building a wall between yourself and the career staff. You can do damage to the agency if you shut them out.
Rely on the careerists."
He noted how helpful this advice had been in his own experience in cementing his relationship with his career staff. He was able to restore the relationship with them and heal scars left by a previous agency director who had seriously alienated them.
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To a person, the PASs spoke highly of the careerists with whom they worked. Many PASs addressed the importance of establishing good relations with career people, not only because of their high level of competence, on which most remarked, but because, as one said, "Government is consensual. Who does the work? Not the political appointees. You have to get the line people behind you."
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PASs were keenly aware of their limited tenure; that, after all, is the nature of political jobs. They were equally aware of the key role the stability of the permanent bureaucracy plays in getting anything done in Washington. Simply put, they knew all too well how dependent the country is on the careerists and how relatively dispensable politicians are in the day-to-day management of agency business. As one said, "They look at us as the Christmas help. They know we'll be gone pretty soon. You need their support to get anything done."
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Many interviewees discussed the larger nature of politics in Washington. Fred Hitz, inspector general (IG) at the CIA, suggested PASs "take the long view, don't think you're going to get everything done in a short timethe system will beat you bloody. It wages a war of attrition." Despite the warfare imagery, Hitz, along with others, considered government "funit's more fun than selling tires."
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PASs as a breed are action- and results-oriented. Many in the Bush PAS Survey, especially those who came from the private sector, expressed amazement and frustration at "how long it takes to make anything happen. You have to remember to touch all the necessary bases." In general, PASs sometimes have trouble understanding that there are limitations on their ability to accomplish things because they have to operate vertically throughout their own agency and up to the White House, as well as hori-
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