Obama appointees: Plenty of empty seats, Plenty of thrones

posted at 1:07 am on August 24, 2009 by Karl

The New York Times has noticed that after seven months in office, Pres. Obama has filled only 43 percent of the 543 policymaking jobs requiring Senate confirmation in four top executive ranks:

He is trying to fix the financial markets but does not have an assistant treasury secretary for financial markets. He is spending more money on transportation than anyone since Dwight D. Eisenhower but does not have his own inspector general watching how the dollars are used. He is fighting two wars but does not have an Army secretary.

He sent Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Africa to talk about international development but does not have anyone running the Agency for International Development. He has invited major powers to a summit on nuclear nonproliferation but does not have an assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation. He has vowed to improve government efficiency but does not have the chief performance officer he promised.

But wait, there’s more:

No Obama appointee is running the Transportation Security Agency, the Customs and Border Protection agency, the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mr. Obama still does not have an intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security, nor a top civilian in charge of military readiness at the Pentagon.

Moreover, according to another recent NYT report:

President Obama has made health care his top priority. He says the cost of Medicare and Medicaid is “the biggest threat” to the nation’s fiscal future. But to the puzzlement of Congress and health care experts around the country, Mr. Obama has not named anyone to lead the agency that runs the two giant programs.

The suggestion in these reports is that the vetting process “had become so intrusive that many candidates declined to be considered.” Which is rather incredible considering that Obama Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner is a tax cheat, and still got confirmed. As did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, despite all sorts of conflict of interest concerns.

However, concerns that Obama’s appointees might be so problematic that even the complacent Senate might object would explain the dozens of “czars” Obama has installed — some with ethical clouds, all undermining the Senate’s constitutional role advice and consent.

Blowback