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Thursday, November 13, 2008 6:15 PM

Obama WH Could Revamp USAID

By KELLIE LUNNEY, Government Executive

A new agency promoting global development and democracy could evolve in the Obama-Biden administration.

A nonprofit think tank on Thursday issued a series of recommendations for the incoming president, including exploring the creation of an independent development agency that consolidates the responsibilities of more than 20 disparate entities such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, Millennium Challenge Corp. and President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The release of the recommendations from the Center for U.S. Global Engagement is not unusual. Many groups promote their policy agendas during presidential transitions to influence the next crop of decision-makers. But the notion of creating a more streamlined, central USAID that houses all the federal government's foreign assistance programs actually was outlined by President-elect Obama in one of several policy proposals published during the campaign. That move makes the idea look less like a recommendation and more like a distinct possibility.

Obama's plan for promoting global development and democracy is the "most far-reaching platform that any candidate has ever put out" on the subject, said Liz Schrayer, executive director of the Center for U.S. Global Engagement. The nonpartisan group released its recommendations and the "Global Plum Book" to coincide with an event on the transition and foreign policy matters, which featured former Bush chief speechwriter and policy adviser Michael Gerson and former Clinton adviser Paul Begala. (View video of the event above.)

Schrayer's organization also suggested creating a new position in the White House -- deputy national security adviser for global development -- to elevate the issue and coordinate with the bureaucracy.

"We do think the independent agency has to be coupled with some leaders in the White House," Schrayer said.

And creating such a White House position is much easier than standing up a new agency, as the continued management headaches plaguing the six-year-old Homeland Security Department have illustrated.

"The White House is the freest bureaucracy in the federal government," said Begala, during Thursday's panel discussion.

Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will no doubt make foreign policy and the promotion of global development a top priority in their administration, given Obama's own personal history and interest in those issues and Biden's well-respected reputation in foreign affairs.

On Wednesday, the Obama-Biden transition team named 20 people to oversee a governmentwide review process and gather agency information for the new administration. The State Department, along with the departments of Defense and Treasury, received its own advisers. Tom Donilon and Wendy Sherman, both veterans of the Clinton administration, are heading up the fact-finding mission at State.

Schrayer praised the choice of Donilon and Sherman. "They are very thoughtful individuals, and know the State Department very well," she said.

Jim Steinberg, Clinton's former deputy national security adviser who is being considered for the top slot in the Obama administration, is another key foreign policy adviser to the president-elect during the transition and likely will make important policy and personnel decisions related to the department and the federal foreign affairs community.

The "Global Plum Book" also listed the undersecretary for management at State and the deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget among 100 or so positions critical to foreign affairs.

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