Congress on Czars = FAIL!
September 5, 2009
The Constitution (Article II, Section 2) states that the President must nominate any public ministers, consuls, judges and ALL other officers of the United States. Additionally, the Congress may, by Law, require the President to nominate inferior Officers (such as so called Czars) as they think proper. In either case, ALL of these nominations MUST be approved by the Senate.
So why doesn’t the Senate approve Czars today? Historically, Czars haven’t really been an issue. Franklin Roosevelt created the role of ‘Czar’ and had more than 15 appointees serve in 10 Czar jobs between 1933 and 1945. From Eisenhower to Bush (H.W.) there were only one or two Czar jobs. Czar jobs increased under Clinton and Bush, but if some reports are correct, they have absolutely exploded under Obama. The ‘Czar’ title is informal so there is no official count of the number of ‘Czar’ jobs in Obama’s White House, but on the low side Obama has as few as 36 and on the high side there could be as many as 85 (though this number would include advisers like Van Jones who have disavowed the ‘Czar’ title). Obama and his team have been very careful to NOT use the title, preferring the ’special adviser’ title instead. Include Cabinet secretaries to this list and Obama has approximately 100 direct reports. James Bailey, professor from George Washington University, notes,
“I think the number probably is getting closer to a 100, that’s not the norm at most Fortune 500 companies. Most CEOs have about seven to 10 people reporting to them, Obama has perhaps 100 people reporting to him. Can they reasonably and responsibly state up with all of the elements that are required to execute their job responsibly?”
Czars are becoming as important as Cabinet officers. Congress should (as is their Constitutional right) require that the President nominate these ‘inferior officers’ so they can approve (or in some cases disapprove) of these people who are running the executive branch. Why? Because the founders SPECIFICALLY included the ‘advice and consent‘ language as part of a “delicate compromise concerting the balance of power in the federal government. Many delegates preferred to develop a strong executive control vested in the President, while others, worried about authoritarian control, preferred to strengthen the Congress. Requiring the President to gain the advice and consent of the Senate achieved both goals without hindering the business of government.”
Why am I bringing this up now? I, like many of you, have been shocked by the sort of people Obama has brought into the White House. The ‘idiot’ du jour is Van Jones. Never heard of him? The major networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) have not covered his exploits, but EVERYONE else has. Just do a Google News Search for his name – or if you are brave, do a Google Blog Search.
Next time you reach out to your Senator suggest that they start providing advice and consent to the President on inferior officers like ‘Czars’ and ‘Special Advisors’.
Who are the Czars? Here is the short list (I don’t have all day to put the full list together):
| Name | Czar Title | Actual (boring) Title |
| Herb Allison | TARP Czar | Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability |
| Alan Bersin | Border Czar | Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs |
| Dennis Blair | Intelligence Czar | Director of National Intelligence |
| John Brennan | Terrorism Czar | Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security |
| Carol Browner | Energy Czar | Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change |
| Adolfo Carrion, Jr | Urban Affairs Czar | Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs |
| Ashton Carter | Weapons Czar | Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics |
| Aneesh Chopra | Technology Czar | Chief Technology Officer |
| Jeffrey Crowley | AIDS Czar | Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy |
| Cameron Davis | Great Lakes Czar | Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan |
| Nancy-Ann DeParle | Health Czar | Director of the White House Office of Health Reform |
| Earl Devaney | Stimulus Accountability Czar | Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board |
| Joshua DuBois | Faith-based Czar | Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships |
| Kenneth Feinberg | Pay Czar | Special Master on executive pay |
| Danny Fried | Guantanamo Closure Czar | Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay |
| J. Scott Gration | Sudan Czar | Special Envoy to Sudan |
| Richard Holbrooke | Afghanistan Czar | Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan |
| John Holdren | Science Czar | Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology |
| Van Jones | Green Jobs Czar | Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality |
| Gil Kerlikowske | Drug Czar | Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy |
| Vivek Kundra | Information Czar | Federal Chief Information Officer |
| George Mitchell | Mideast Peace Czar | Special Envoy to the Middle East |
| Ed Montgomery | Car Czar | Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers |
| Dennis Ross | Mideast Policy Czar | Special Adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia |
| Gary Samore | WMD Czar | Coordinator for the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism |
| Todd Stern | Climate Czar | Special Envoy for Climate Change |
| Cass Sunstein | Regulatory Czar | Director of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs |
| Paul Volcker | Economic Czar | Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board |
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The Reagan Administration had a couple of Drug Czars. I think they were confirmed by the Senate, though.
Comment by Dennis Deckard — September 5, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
Yep. Roosevelt had 10, Eisenhower to Bush had either 1 or 2 each. Clinton had like 6, GW Bush ultimately had 32 and now Obama has around 85.
Comment by Alexander Muse — September 6, 2009 @ 7:30 am
[...] in light of the sort of people Obama has surrounded himself with, I called on the Senate to begin using its power of advice and consent to help rid the White House of these [...]
Pingback by Why NBC, CBS, and ABC Don’t Matter | Conservative Dallas — September 6, 2009 @ 7:34 am