Mueller tenure plan irks some FBI agents

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- President Obama's plan to extend FBI Director Robert Mueller beyond his 10-year term drew ire among some agents, who say the proposal smacks of hypocrisy.

The agents say Mueller imposed term limits on hundreds of supervisors but isn't honoring the legal limit of his own tenure, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Obama said the extension would provide stability as other national security and intelligence agencies undergo leadership transitions. Congress is considering whether to grant Obama's request.

"We understand the desire for stability," said Konrad Motyka, president of the FBI Agents Association, which renewed its call to end the term-limit policy. "But people are saying, 'What about my stability?' It's ironic that this desire for stability did not apply to supervisors within the FBI."

The policy, adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, requires FBI supervisors to leave their posts after seven years and compete for other managerial jobs, retire or accept a demotion in the same field office with lower pay, the Post said.

FBI officials said the policy placed strong managers into hundreds of positions created after the attacks.

Some agents, speaking anonymously to the Post, said they are angry at the possibility of Mueller getting the chance to stay while others have been forced to leave their posts.

"People are up in arms about this," one agent said. "We have lost valuable experience. I've seen people, some really significant contributors to this organization and to this country, who are questioning their self-worth now and who are basically bitter."

Spokesmen for White House and Mueller declined the Post's requests for comment.