For his third nominee to lead the Commerce Department, President Obama has turned to Gary Locke, who combines the gubernatorial experience and Democratic pedigree of first pick Bill Richardson with a fiscal conservative streak more reminiscent of second pick Judd Gregg.
Locke built a decidedly pro-trade record during his eight years as the nation's first Chinese-American governor in Washington state and then as a China trade specialist with an international law firm. Locke helped arrange deals in China for Microsoft, Boeing and Weyerhaeuser. He guided Washington through a serious budget shortfall, but he took some criticism for doing it in part by cutting services. He also helped push a successful ballot initiative that linked Washington's minimum wage to inflation.
A comparison of Locke's positions to those of his two predecessors for the Commerce job follows after the jump.
By THERESA POULSON
Had Tom Daschle been confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary, much of his focus would have been on his other appointment -- head of the new White House Office of Health Reform. As the Obama administration seeks a new candidate to lead HHS, should that nominee be tapped for both posts?
In a conversation with National Journal staff Tuesday, former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said that having his successor also hold the White House post would not necessarily pave a fast track to health care reform.
"I thought, and told Tom Daschle as much, I thought it was a brilliant piece of negotiation going into a position and who wouldn't want to be in that role if you were secretary of health," Leavitt said. "However, I didn't have the illusion, and I don't suspect that he did either, that it was going to eliminate the different points of view and the different perspectives that come inside either interagency White House discussion or a conversation in Congress."
Leavitt added that the new White House position, "at least as I understand it, took the place of either the National Economic Council or the Domestic Policy Council in organizing the meetings. They couldn't eliminate the different perspectives, but they could have the benefit of drawing the agenda. Would it have been an advantage? I suspect it might have been, but it would not have been a formula for automatic consensus."
On health care reform, Leavitt said, "there's going to be no quick victory here. But the department does need leadership, and it needs it soon."
The entire discussion with Leavitt and video of highlights will be posted next Friday.
President Obama announced today he will nominate Jim Miller as principal deputy undersecretary for policy and Lt. Gen. Wallace "Chip" Gregson Jr. as assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs within the Department of Defense.
Miller is a former academic, House Armed Services Committee staffer and deputy assistant secretary of Defense for requirements, plans, and counterproliferation.
Gregson is a retired general who commanded Marine forces in the Pacific. He has also served as COO of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The White House also announced today that a number of Defense Department employees will retain their positions. Mike Donley will stay on as Air Force Secretary, Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper as undersecretary of Defense for intelligence and Michael G. Vickers as assistant secretary of Defense for special operations/low intensity conflict and interdependent capabilities.
Full biographies of Miller, Gregson, Donley, Clapper and Vickers, per the White House press office, follow after the jump.
Continue reading More DOD Appointments, Holdovers Announced.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Updated at 1:30 p.m.
Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke was introduced this morning as President Obama's nominee to head the Commerce Department. Obama has to be hoping the third time's the charm. His two earlier choices for the post, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., both withdrew.
"I'm sure it's not lost on anyone that we've tried this a couple of times, but I'm a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right," Obama joked at the press conference announcing Locke's nomination. "And Gary is the right man for this job." Obama went on to praise the country's first Chinese-American governor for his work wooing business to Washington state and for growing the state's high-tech economy. With this pick, the only Cabinet seat without even a nominee is back down to one: Health and Human Services was originally intended for former Sen. Tom Daschle, who withdrew his nomination after it emerged he had failed to pay all his income taxes.
Subscribers can view Locke's Almanac of American Politics profile here.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate this afternoon confirmed Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as President Obama's Labor secretary. The vote was 80-17. Solis' confirmation had been delayed because of Republican concerns about her pro-union positions on some issues and questions about her husband's taxes.
Solis' confirmation leaves U.S. trade representative pick Ron Kirk as Obama's only Cabinet-level nominee awaiting a confirmation hearing. Replacement nominees have yet to be named for the departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Scrapping plans for what was to be its first cloture vote this year on an presidential nominee, the Senate will hold an up-or-down confirmation vote at 4:30 p.m. today for Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., to be Labor secretary, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said this morning. A GOP leadership aide said Republicans dropped objections to the vote after they reached a time agreement with Democrats. The sides failed to agree on debate timing before last week's recess.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, a Democrat, is expected to be named soon as President Obama's third choice for Commerce secretary.
Locke, 59, was the nation's first Chinese-American governor when he served two terms in the Washington statehouse from 1997 to 2005. He now works in the Seattle-based law firm Davis Wright Tremaine.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson backed away from the post after initially accepting offers from Obama.
On Monday, President Obama announced the nomination of John Morton as assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Morton is currently serving as the acting deputy assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department and has specialized in immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also named Esther Olavarria as deputy assistant secretary for policy. Olavarria is joining DHS from the Center for American Progress, where she was a senior fellow and director of immigration policy.
See complete biographies, per the DHS press office, after the jump.
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, NextGov
The White House today announced the staff of its new media team, headed by Macon Phillips, who has been named director of new media. Phillips served in the same position for the transition team and helped oversee the development of Change.gov as well as the other online communications for the transition. He also served as deputy director of new media for Obama's campaign.
Phillips will be joined by Cammie Croft, who will be the deputy new media director. She also served as Phillips' deputy during the transition and prior to that worked for campaign managing Web sites such as FighttheSmears.com and UndertheRadar.com
Also in the new media department: Jesse Lee, named online programs director. Lee worked on the transition team doing online outreach and worked for the DNC during election season.
See full bios for Phillips, Croft, Lee and Director of Citizen Participation Katie Jacobs Stanton after the jump:
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama will appoint FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz to be the agency's next chairman early this week, an administration official confirmed today. Leibowitz, a Democratic member of the panel since 2004, will succeed Republican William Kovacic, who led the agency charged with consumer protection and preventing unfair business practices for less than a year.
Leibowitz formerly worked for the Motion Picture Association of America and was once Democratic counsel for the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. Leibowitz has been a supporter of calls to stop brand pharmaceutical companies from paying off generic drugmakers to delay the availability of their low-cost versions and is frequently quoted on high-tech topics. Earlier this month, he told the Internet advertising industry it should improve its self-regulatory efforts in consumer privacy to avoid government intervention.
by WINTER CASEY
Kei Koizumi has been appointed assistant director for federal research and development at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he will be working on federal R&D budget issues and tracking funding. Koizumi served on the Obama transition team as part of the Technology, Innovation & Government Reform Policy Working Group. He said the group talked a lot about science funding in the stimulus bill and brainstormed ways to implement the Obama campaign agenda within the first 100 days of office.
Koizumi last served as the longtime director of the R&D budget and policy program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an international nonprofit organization. While at AAAS, Koizumi was the principal budget analyst, editor, and writer for annual reports on federal R&D and for updated analysis on federal R&D on the association's Web site.
Koizumi, who considers himself a Democrat, said he is "happy to be entering public service after 14 years in the nonprofit sector."
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Thursday appointed Mary Ellen Callahan, a partner at Hogan & Hartson, as the agency's chief privacy officer. Callahan has counseled clients on online and offline marketing issues as well as on Web site privacy policies and terms of use. She has written numerous comments on behalf of clients such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the Online Publishers Association on rulemaking related to the FTC, federal anti-spam laws and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
By KASIE HUNT, CongressDaily
Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., will be the first of President Obama's Cabinet nominees to need 60 senators to back her when the Senate votes to move to her nomination Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled the cloture vote last week after Republicans could not agree on timing, a GOP aide said. In a letter sent to Reid's office last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrote that "prior to considering any time agreements on the floor on any nominee" the nominee would have to meet a set of criteria, including answering questions and meeting with members.
A spokesman for Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., has characterized the weeks-long delay of Solis' confirmation as largely procedural. But Democratic aides said it was a "shot over the bow" on controversial card-check legislation that would make it easier to form unions. Labor and Hispanic groups have stepped up the pressure in favor of Solis' nomination in recent days.
HELP Republicans have said Solis was unresponsive to questions about card check at her confirmation hearing and sent several rounds of follow-up questions to her. They also raised questions about her unpaid position on the board of the pro-union group American Rights at Work. A committee vote on her nomination was postponed after reports noting her husband paid $6,400 to settle 15 tax liens against his small business in California. The committee approved her nomination last week by voice vote with two Republicans -- Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma -- voting "no."
Dan Friedman contributed to this report.
By ALINA SELYUKH
President Obama established yet another new executive office on Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise by naming Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. as head of the new White House Office of Urban Affairs. Derek Douglas, director of New York Gov. David Paterson's Washington office, was named as special assistant to the president for urban affairs.
The new Office of Urban Affairs was created on Thursday by an executive order to guide, coordinate and oversee funding of all urban affairs policy and programs. In addition to doling out federal dollars to urban areas, Carrión told the Washington Post that he will work across traditional Cabinet divisions to coordinate health, education and environmental initiatives in American's cities. Obama told the U.S. Conference of Mayors today that he had also asked his new urban czar "to set up an advisory council with mayors and other urban leaders so that we can develop a new metropolitan strategy based on the lessons you've learned."
John F. Kennedy envisioned a similar office in 1962, offering to combine the Housing and Home Finance Agency and related agencies in the Department of Urban Affairs and Housing to address the population shift from rural to urban areas. But Congress killed the proposal. President Johnson brought attention back to the issue in 1966, creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Since then, urban affairs questions have passed through HUD and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs -- a committee whose broad jurisdiction has resulted in chronic inattention to urban issues, according to some observers.
By ALINA SELYUKH
(Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
With just one signature, President Obama not only sent $787 billion rolling into the U.S. economy, he also moved a few steps closer to fulfilling at least 38 pledges he made on the campaign trail, scratching one completely off the to-do list.
The wide-ranging stimulus bill, which Obama signed in Denver on Tuesday, included investments in Medicaid, research and development, health IT, renewable energy, energy efficiency and education, to name a few areas. Taxes and energy and the environment were the two categories of promises most affected by the bill, with veterans, education, health care and housing trailing after them.
Most of the energy and environment promises that the bill helped to advance had to do with improving energy efficiency and helping U.S. automakers to produce hybrid vehicles. Obama's tax promises were more specific, including exact goals such as cutting income taxes by $1,000 for working families and tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit. The long congressional negotiations over the bill resulted in some compromises from what the White House would have wanted -- the tax cut for working families was reduced to $800, for example, and the EITC increased by only 5 percentage points.
Yet the sole campaign promise that Obama checked off completely with the stimulus bill also involved taxes. The adjustments made to the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit expanded its scope to cover low-income families making at least $3,000.
Progress stalled on some promises, however. A provision reforming bankruptcy laws to cover health costs was dropped from the final bill, and language that would have protected federal whistleblowers was removed after the House and Senate failed to reconcile conflicting versions. Although Obama didn't promise stimulus funding for Gulf Coast states hit by Hurricane Katrina, other flood control projects did get funding beyond the $90 billion in infrastructure money divided among the states.
The administration also reversed course on two government spending promises -- to pay for job programs with cuts and to reinstate PAYGO. Another spending promise, to restore earmark spending to pre-1994 levels, is harder to evaluate.
In one case of potential missed opportunity, there was no special funding for Gulf Coast reconstruction in the bill -- something Obama promised in New Orleans last year -- even while other flood control projects were included beyond the $90 billion in infrastructure money divided among the states.
The list of all promises advanced during the stimulus wrangling follows after the jump.
Updated at 12:12 p.m. on Feb. 20.
Continue reading Stimulus Moves Obama Forward On Campaign Promises.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Former federal prosecutor Robert Khuzami today was named enforcement director of the SEC, replacing Linda Thomsen, who had become a lightning rod for criticism in the wake of the agency's failure to follow up on accusations that Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. Khuzami has been a top official at investment firm Deutsche Bank since 2004, the Associated Press reported. Before that, he worked for 11 years in the U.S. attorney's office in New York prosecuting insider-trading cases, Ponzi schemes and other financial crimes.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Finance Committee could hold a hearing a week from today on the nomination of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be U.S. Trade Representative, sources said. The panel has not formally scheduled a hearing yet, but it was expected to move on Kirk's nomination shortly after finishing work on the economic stimulus package. The hearing is expected to provide some clues into President Obama's trade policy, which has taken a backseat to the stimulus. Kirk's record of support for free-trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement could be an issue with some members of the labor movement. Panel members are likely to grill Kirk on the Obama administration's intentions with regard to pending and proposed trade agreements as well as enforcement issues, such as China's currency devaluation.
By ANNA EDNEY, CongressDaily
During the Bush administration, the FTC faced resistance from the top as it tried to chip away at pharmaceutical deals that kept generic drugs off the market. But now, one commissioner believes the tide is turning under President Obama. In an interview with CongressDaily, FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said he sees momentum building to stop brand pharmaceutical companies from paying off generic drugmakers to delay the availability of their low-cost versions to consumers. In such "pay-for-delay" settlements, brand companies pay generic competitors to keep out of the market. "The new administration does seem to recognize that this is a real problem," said Leibowitz. "This is a real problem for consumers, [and] fixing it... would actually help pay for health care reform." Without naming an exact price tag, he said eliminating the settlements could save consumers and the federal government tens of billions of dollars.
Both brand names and generics back "pay for delay" -- generics are paid millions to do nothing, while brand names make more by maintaining a monopoly for several extra years than they pay out to low-cost competitors -- and they are resisting any overhaul. But FTC is banking on more success with Obama. Leibowitz said the agency is taking a two-pronged approach by challenging the most anti-competitive settlements in court as well as supporting legislation. Until now, FTC has had mixed success in the courts, and it faced opposition from the Justice Department in one of the cases that reached the Supreme Court. He expects the Obama Justice Department, however, "will be much more supportive."
For more on this story, read CongressDailyPM.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama appears to be filling out his trade team, having tapped House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee staff director Tim Reif as general counsel and chief enforcement officer for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, sources said today.
In serving as the top trade staffer for Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., Reif brings to USTR a close Hill connection, which top Democrats thought was lacking in George W. Bush's USTR. Reif is expected to aggressively monitor other nations' compliance with international trade rules, which could dominate the trade agenda, particularly with regard to China. Reif started at USTR this week.
Obama might nominate the top trade aide to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, Demetrios Marantis, as deputy to Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk, Inside U.S. Trade has reported, although sources said no decision has been made. Baucus has long reflected a centrist view on trade policy, backing free-trade agreements while supporting increased aid to U.S. workers hurt by globalization.
By KATHERINE MCINTIRE PETERS, Government Executive
Ever since the Federal Emergency Management Agency was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department after its creation in 2003, bureaucrats and elected officials have debated the merits of that decision. After weighing the arguments for and against making FEMA a stand-alone agency again, the department's inspector general found such a reorganization could have significant negative repercussions.
"Removing FEMA from DHS at this point would cause considerable upheaval, to both FEMA and the department," IG Richard Skinner wrote in a report [PDF] released Tuesday.
FEMA benefits from the wealth of resources and capabilities inherent in Homeland Security, such as search and rescue, communications, law enforcement, intelligence, infrastructure protection, and the ability to surge personnel from other DHS agencies during emergencies, the report concluded.
FEMA's response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike last fall illustrated the point: Customs and Border Protection provided security and aerial surveys of the damaged regions; the Transportation Security Administration supported 20 commodity distribution locations with 366 employees; and the Coast Guard performed search-and-rescue missions.
The IG noted in the three years before the department was established, FEMA and the Coast Guard conducted joint exercises 13 times; in the three years after DHS was created, the agencies held 59 such exercises.
By ALINA SELYUKH
Just as the dust was settling last week from the exits of Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., whipped up the tumult again. By pulling out of consideration for Commerce secretary, a post previously abandoned by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), Gregg became the Obama administration's fourth high-level dropout so far.
But while this administration has set a turnover record for an incoming Cabinet, it's hardly the first to run into problems with its nominees. Bill Clinton leads among recent presidents with a total of six major nominee dropouts over the course of his presidency, followed by George W. Bush and his Cabinet's two withdrawals. Three previous presidents -- George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter -- each slipped once. All but Reagan had at least one kink in their first-term Cabinet selection process, with Clinton accepting three withdrawals.
Details about each of those instances follow after the jump.
Continue reading Obama Challenges Clinton For Most Nominee Dropouts.
Last week on National Journal's Health Care Expert Blog, contributors weighed in on how both Tom Daschle's withdrawal and the economic stimulus package -- slated to be signed today by President Obama in Denver -- have affected plans to reform health care in 2009.
While rumors have been floating around about whom Obama will appoint as HHS secretary, the White House has acknowledged that "we are vetting," but would not elaborate further, according to the Washington Post. Some names that have surfaced include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
The outlook for health care reform in 2009 is not bright from the perspective of James P Gelfand, senior manager of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who noted Daschle's "unique" qualifications for the HHS post and argued that "his loss will definitely delay and cost the process." Ultimately, Gelfand said, lawmakers should not hastily push health care through this year.
Others, however, are not discouraged by either the delayed HHS appointment or the ailing economy. Ron Pollack, executive director for FamiliesUSA, said Daschle's withdrawal "will not significantly slow down the health care reform effort." He stressed that "reform rests with the President and the key committee chairs that have jurisdiction over health care" -- such as Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. These lawmakers have all expressed a commitment to achieving reform this year, Pollack said.
This assertion was confirmed by Sen. Baucus himself, who wrote on the blog that reform is "not only possible in 2009, it is imperative." Baucus, who chairs the Finance Committee, said that once the stimulus package was out of the way he would refocus the panel's attention onto health care.
Meanwhile, the new secretary of HHS, whoever it is, will be "confronted with two interrelated challenges," according to USC professor Leonard D. Schaeffer. He or she must 1) be knowledgeable about the politics of health care and 2) assess internally the management issues facing the department. For successful reform, Schaeffer writes, HHS "needs to change."
To use a metaphor decidedly popular at the White House these days, Robert Gibbs was still tossing his warm-up pitches and the first batter was just stepping to the plate at his first briefing for the White House press corps when the realization hit him. "I can remember thinking, 'Wow! I'm out here really doing this'," he said later.
As the third full week of the administration ended, Gibbs was still out there as the public face -- he prefers "pinata" -- of the White House. And he was still smiling, particularly after some early favorable reviews.
"So far, so good," said Marvin Kalb, a longtime Washington journalist who heads the Kennedy School of Government's Washington programs and is a senior fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. "Like Robert Redford in the movie 'The Natural,' I think Gibbs is a natural. All of his instincts are that of a transmitter of information."
Subscribers can read the full story by George E. Condon Jr. at CongressDailyAM.
Domestic issues have been front and center for the Obama administration thus far, but problems overseas are hardly fading into the background. Special envoy Richard Holbrooke arrived in Afghanistan late Thursday and met with key government officials in Kabul today. The meeting came days after a deadly Taliban attack on government buildings in the capital that underscored the security challenges the U.S. faces in the region.
National Journal this week asked Congressional Insiders and top political bloggers if they supported President Obama's plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Among both groups, support was higher on the right. Some 91 percent of the congressional Republicans surveyed supported the move, compared to 57 percent of congressional Democrats. About 65 percent of right-leaning bloggers in the poll favored an Afghanistan "surge," while the percentage was essentially reversed among left-leaners.
Republican Insiders tended to base their support on the judgment and track record of the military: "Gen. [David] Petraeus set the U.S. on a direction to achieve our goals in Iraq. And given the manpower, time, and resources, he should be able to accomplish the same in Afghanistan," one said. Democrats were generally supportive, but most quoted by National Journal had an eye on the big picture. One undecided voter said, "It depends. If they are merely a military 'force,' then no, nothing will change. If they are used to allow for a true shift in approach toward a more pro-Afghan effort, then yes."
The need for more than just a military response was also a common refrain among bloggers. "It's about keeping Afghanistan from becoming a failed state as Pakistan becomes more unstable," wrote left-leaning blogger Taylor Marsh, who voted yes. "Troops alone are not the answer, as everyone knows." But Jon Henke of The Next Right, who voted no, said, "It's hard to see how we could prevent terrorists from operating there except by (a) permanently occupying the country, or (b) building massive, countrywide infrastructure, convincing the Afghanistan people to relocate across the country and moving the Afghans away from their historically tribal approach to society. Both approaches seem impractical."
Insiders and bloggers were also asked if recent events in Washington had changed their minds about the prospect of bipartisanship under Obama. "More encouraged" scored in the single digits among all four groups. "Less encouraged" got majorities from all but left-leaning bloggers, who opted for "no change" by 53 percent.
The withdrawal of Judd Gregg's nomination for Commerce secretary has commentators and editorial boards reeling. Here's a roundup from some of the major newspapers and Web sites.
The Washington Post predicts that "there will be plenty of questions about both sides of this collapsed merger."
According to the Wall Street Journal, Gregg's departure "indicates that President Obama's life with the left-wing of his party may become a sea of troubles."
"Obama is lucky to be rid of Gregg," declares The Nation's John Nichols. "This nomination was always a case of taking the 'team of rivals' fantasy to extremes."
George Stephanopoulos views Gregg's withdrawal as an "embarrassment to both men."
The London Daily Telegraph's Toby Harnden gives 10 reasons why this is a "major blow" to Obama.
Edward Luce sees this as evidence that Obama's "once widely praised vetting machine is in danger of seizing up" and as "a setback for Mr. Obama's bipartisan aspirations."
Recounting the other three major departures from Obama's Cabinet, the New York Post editorial board writes that "it's refreshing to hear that Gregg's departure is occasioned not by scandal, but by something rarely seen in Washington -- principle."
Kansas City Star columnist Barb Shelly believes "things are looking good for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius being offered the Health and Human Services position. With Obama's people now back at Square One on the commerce job, they'll probably want to get the HHS post filled quickly. Or maybe she'll get a look for commerce secretary."
Karl Rove, Linda Chavez and other political insiders offer their thoughts in the Washington Post.
Hotline On Call has a roundup of Thursday night's TV commentary.
President Obama has selected Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be the nation's next drug czar, an administration official told the Associated Press Thursday.
Kerlikowske will lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position that has in past administrations been a Cabinet-level post, but the Obama administration has not decided its status, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made.
Kerlikowske joined Seattle's police force in 2000 after overseeing community policing grants at the Justice Department and has worked as a police officer in Florida and New York.
In the latest edition of National Journal Magazine, reporter Will Englund offers insight into the increasing role of czars in the Obama administration.
Englund reports that the surprisingly lengthy history of White House czars has, overall, not been particularly brilliant. Every recent administration has featured a drug czar -- toothless because he lacks real budgetary authority, hopeless because he is assigned to coordinate the policies of intractably jealous and secretive police agencies, and feckless because his job is to take care of something the president doesn't want to be bothered with.
The senator who began pushing in 1982 for the creation of the drug czar post is now vice president of the United States, and it will be interesting to see how much attention Joe Biden pays to the newest czar.
William Bennett was the first drug czar, under George H.W. Bush, and he acknowledged being frustrated by a lack of authority. Gen. Barry McCaffrey was drug czar under Bill Clinton, and although by law he had some role in budget-setting, in practice the Office of Management and Budget didn't give him a seat at the table, according to Winograd. "If it doesn't include the budget, it doesn't mean anything in Washington," says Morley Winograd, who was head of Vice President Gore's commission for reinventing government. And although others say that's not always true, it was nevertheless the case that McCaffrey had no clout. The agencies he was supposed to be coordinating resisted him at every turn.
- Read the complete analysis of policy czars and their prospects for success (subscription).
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Without objection, the Senate on Thursday night confirmed Leon Panetta as CIA director, a day after the Senate Intelligence Committee recommended without opposition that he be approved.
Panetta is a former Democratic House member from California who served as OMB director and White House chief of staff during President Bill Clinton's administration.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin Thursday scheduled a hearing for Feb. 25 on President Obama's nomination of Gary Gensler to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
After meeting with Gensler, Harkin expressed concerns about Gensler's history of support for deregulation when he was an undersecretary at the Treasury Department in the Clinton administration.
Critics have said the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which exempted most over-the-counter derivatives from regulation, contributed to the financial crisis. In a written statement to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Gensler also left open the door to supporting a merger between the SEC and the CFTC.
But House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, who had also expressed reservations about the nomination, said Thursday that he has consulted with Gensler about the CFTC reform bill that his committee has passed and that he has decided to urge senators to vote for his confirmation.
Updated at 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 12
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., this afternoon became President Obama's second Commerce secretary nominee to withdraw his name from consideration, citing differences over the stimulus package and the administration of the census. Gregg had been Obama's third Republican Cabinet nominee.
In a statement, Gregg thanked Obama and praised his leadership. "I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle," Gregg said.
"However," the statement continued, "it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy."
The administration has drawn fire from Republicans over its decision to move the Census Bureau, traditionally part of the Commerce Department, under White House control. The move was reportedly (subscription) a response to criticism from black and Latino advocacy groups over the nomination of Gregg, who they believe obstructed efforts to fully count minorities in the previous census. House Republicans today threatened legal action (subscription) over the administration's move.
Of course, some differences between Obama and Gregg were apparent from the beginning. "Clearly, Judd and I don't agree on every issue," Obama said when the nomination was announced on Feb. 3, "most notably who should have won the election."
Obama's original choice for the job, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, withdrew in January over pay-to-play allegations.
Read Gregg's full statement after the jump.
Former lawmakers will be running State, Interior, Transportation, Commerce, the CIA and -- if Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., is confirmed -- Labor -- putting a large swath of the government and about 230,000 employees under the control of appointees who are savvy in legislating but light on management experience.
It falls to another House veteran -- White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel -- to make sure the administration fills the management gap and avoids what has been a less-than-stellar track record of members of Congress moving into Cabinet agencies.
For more on the track record of lawmakers as agency heads, read the complete story from CongressDaily (subscription).
By MEGAN SCULLY and KASIE HUNT, CongressDaily
The Senate Wednesday confirmed William Lynn, a Raytheon executive and former company lobbyist, to be deputy Defense secretary by a 93-4 vote.
At the same time, two Senate panels approved the nominations of Leon Panetta to head the CIA and Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as Labor secretary, sending both appointments to the Senate floor for votes this month.
Lynn's confirmation came after several senators, including Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, expressed concerns in recent weeks about the former lobbyist taking over the Pentagon's No. 2 slot. McCain ultimately dropped his objections and supported Lynn for the post after Lynn provided additional details about his lobbying activities and how that might affect his performance.
But Lynn still faced opposition on the floor from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who raised concerns about Lynn's connections to Raytheon, one of the country's largest defense contractors. And Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized policies Lynn adopted while serving as the Pentagon's chief financial officer during the Clinton administration.
"At this point, we simply don't know what Mr. Lynn will do. I don't own a crystal ball. That's all in the future. That's an unknown," Grassley said in his prepared floor remarks. "But we do know something about what he did in the past as the DOD CFO. As CFO, he advocated very questionable accounting practices that were not in the public interest."
Aside from Coburn and Grassley, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also voted against Lynn's nomination. McCaskill, a former state auditor, raised concerns about Lynn's lobbying background during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing last month.
Meanwhile, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved Solis' nomination as Labor secretary by voice vote.
The Senate will vote on her confirmation as soon as possible, said a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, but Republican opposition could push it past the Presidents Day recess. Two committee Republicans -- Coburn and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas -- recorded "no" votes in the HELP Committee. Their opposition would prevent Solis from being confirmed by unanimous consent.
The Senate Intelligence Committee's approval of Panetta for CIA director came during a closed meeting, said panel spokesman Philip LaVelle. Panetta, a former House member and White House chief of staff, was approved without opposition, he said. The full Senate is expected to confirm Panetta this week.
By KASIE HUNT, CongressDaily
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis' nomination as Labor secretary this afternoon. Anthony Coley, a spokesman for HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy, said panel members will meet later today to approve her nomination and send it to the Senate floor.
The California Democrat "has supplied some additional documentation and information with regard to the lien issues that came to light several days ago. The committee has reviewed those and it looks like we're getting close to a vote," said Craig Orfield, spokesman for Senate HELP ranking member Michael Enzi. "We understand there's a good possibility that there will be a vote this afternoon."
Solis' nomination has been delayed for weeks, most recently over concerns about $6,400 in state and county tax liens her husband paid last week. "A number of sources" aside from Solis have given information about the liens, which has allowed her confirmation to move forward, Orfield added.
Hispanic advocacy groups are pushing hard for her confirmation, and some suggested today her nomination was being held up because of her gender or ethnicity. "To our community... the optics are not good on this for those who would be holding her up," Janet Murguia, the president of the National Council of La Raza, said today. "When you have the only Latina who's being considered for a Cabinet position... there's really no rationale out there, certainly among our community, as to why she should be held back."
Labor unions have also pushed for the Senate to move quickly on her confirmation. If the committee approves her nomination, she will still face the full Senate, where several of President Obama's nominees have hit tax-related roadblocks. Thirty-four senators voted against Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner after he paid $34,000 in back taxes, and former Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., withdrew his nomination to head HHS when he paid nearly $140,000 in back taxes and interest for car and driver services. The HELP Committee never voted on Daschle's nomination.
Continue reading A Precedent For 'Unprecedented' Bipartisanship.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
The Senate Intelligence Committee is likely to vote today on the nomination of Leon Panetta to head the CIA, but it was unclear late Tuesday how much Republican support he will receive.
Republicans have expressed reservations over Panetta's qualifications to lead the embattled agency and his positions on key intelligence matters. That has drawn out his confirmation process, resulting in two public hearings and multiple exchanges of written questions and answers for the record.
The committee on Tuesday released the latest -- and likely final -- round of answers Panetta submitted in response to written questions, clearing the way for a confirmation vote.
Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., insisted on Friday on having Panetta respond to additional questions. Bond's spokeswoman was unable to say Tuesday if Bond has made up his mind yet to vote for or against Panetta's nomination.
Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said last week that the strength of Republican support for Panetta on the committee would determine if the full Senate would be able to confirm him by unanimous consent.
In response to the latest round of questions, Panetta said his "first order of business" would be to meet with CIA career officials to determine how to fill any intelligence gaps the agency has with regard to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It is not clear to me whether a drawdown in U.S. forces in Iraq can result in a drawdown of intelligence resources there," he added.
Continue reading Panetta Nomination Poised To Clear Intel Panel.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday evening that Rand Beers, who led President Obama's DHS agency review team during the transition, will act as acting deputy security until Jane Holl Lute is confirmed for the position. Beers has served under four presidents in various security and intelligence positions, including National Security Council director for counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics and director for peacekeeping.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Entertainment industry attorney Tom Perrelli, President Obama's choice for associate attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing today that existing U.S. intellectual property laws "don't seem to be addressing the problem" of global counterfeiting and piracy.
Perrelli said he hoped to bring a renewed focus to the issue. "This committee was the source of a bill that created a broader IP position through the administration," he pointed out, referring to legislation, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and signed into law in October that toughened civil and criminal IP laws and created an IP czar within the White House. That position is now vacant and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has urged the administration to fill it. As managing partner of Jenner & Block's Washington office and co-chairman of the firm's entertainment practice, Perrelli represented record labels and movie studios in copyright cases. He previously served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration.
Despite some GOP resistance, the panel is expected to approve his nomination, as well as that of Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan for solicitor general, after the Presidents Day recess.
CongressDaily's Jerry Hagstrom reports (subscription) that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today he favors a single food safety agency, but he has not decided whether it should be located in USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the FDA or an independent agency.
Commenting on the salmonella peanut butter scandal, Vilsack told the U.S. Rice Federation that the issue of centralization is key because food safety is both a human health and market issue. "We are the only industrial nation to have two systems," Vilsack said, a reference to USDA's responsibility for meat, poultry and eggs and FDA's responsibility for most other food products.
Vilsack's statements have come as something of a surprise to lawmakers and lobbyists. Agribusiness has opposed the idea vigorously in the past, and lawmakers have found the job of reorganizing the food safety system daunting.
For more on this story, read CongressDailyPM.
By ALINA SELYUKH
(Credit: Getty Images)
Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., weren't frequently mentioned in the same breath until President Obama nominated first one and then the other to head the Department of Commerce. Both have served stints as governors, and they shared six years on the House floor in the '80s -- that about covers the similarities. So it raised some eyebrows that, after nearly a month with no Commerce nominee, Obama would choose Gregg for a position he'd previously envisioned Richardson filling.
During the announcement of Gregg's nomination, Obama acknowledged the seeming incongruity of his pick. "Clearly, Judd and I don't agree on every issue," he said, "most notably who should have won the election." In fact, Gregg's opinion of the very department he is now set to lead has differed sharply from his Democratic colleagues: He voted in 1995 for a budget resolution that would have eliminated the agency outright. Possibly the closest Gregg has come to sounding like a Democrat was when he helped George W. Bush prepare for the 2000 and 2004 presidential debates by playing Al Gore and John Kerry during Bush's pre-debate prep.
But even if Gregg tempers his conservatism to better fit the White House's policy agenda, how different an influence will he be at Obama's conference table than Richardson? The examination, based on the two nominees' previous statements and actions, is after the jump.
By JILL R. AITORO, NextGov
The White House was expected to announce as early as today that Melissa Hathaway, top cybersecurity adviser to the director of national intelligence, will oversee a 60-day review of federal cybersecurity efforts, after which she will likely be offered the position of cyber czar, a position Obama promised to create while campaigning, an intelligence official confirmed Friday.
Hathaway, who serves as the cyber coordination executive at ODNI and was senior adviser to former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, will leave ODNI for 60 days to conduct the review of overall cyber organization and strategy in the federal government, said multiple sources with inside knowledge of the appointment.
Hathaway will lead the review with the National Security Council, the president's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy issues with senior advisers and Cabinet officials. The council also helps coordinate policies among federal agencies.
"She will review short-term problems of cybersecurity that need immediate fixing," said an intelligence official who asked not to be named. When asked whether she will be offered the highly anticipated position of cyber czar, he said "probably so."
Hathaway chairs the National Cyber Study Group, a senior-level interagency body that played a lead role in the development of President Bush's Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. She also serves as director of the Joint Interagency Cyber Joint Task Force, which oversees coordination of CNCI activities and programs.
Janet Napolitano, the newly appointed secretary of the Homeland Security Department, is running a parallel review at DHS outlining the state of cybersecurity in government.
President Obama offered the nation a mea culpa this week after two highly placed nominees bowed out over tax trouble, but that didn't end the talk about how his campaign rhetoric promising a cleaner Washington has held up during his presidency. National Journal this week asked Political Insiders and top political bloggers how much damage has been done to Obama's image by the controversies surrounding Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and William Lynn.
A plurality of Democratic Insiders and a majority of left-leaning bloggers said Obama's image has sustained "only a little" damage, with "some" damage a strong second. "Obama, having made rookie mistakes, has owned up to them, which is the best way to make them go away quickly," said David Kravitz of Blue Mass. Group, who voted for "only a little" damage. However, one Democratic Insider who voted the same way cautioned, "If the policies he is identified with work, these are footnotes. If the policies don't work, these become part of a new narrative."
Pluralities of Republican Insiders and right-leaning bloggers agreed Obama has seen "some" damage. Second place among the Insiders was "only a little," but second for the bloggers was "a great deal." One Republican Insider said, "Outside the Beltway, it is chipping away at the perception that President Obama is above the fray. Inside the Beltway, it undermines the sense that his team does not make careless mistakes." David Kopel of The Volokh Conspiracy, writing about Daschle, argued that "it helps Obama in the long run that he will not be in the Cabinet, since he would have been a visible link between the administration and the Rangel/Dodd/Frank congressional culture of corruption."
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
President Obama's pick to head the CIA today appeared to face one last hurdle on his way to being confirmed -- convincing Senate Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., that he's the right man for the job. For the most part, Leon Panetta has sailed through his confirmation process to lead the embattled agency, which came under fire during the Bush administration for operating secret prisons in other countries and using coercive interrogation methods against terrorism suspects. A second round of Panetta's confirmation hearing was held today because Republicans had more questions. Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said after the hearing she plans to have the panel vote next week on the nomination. She said the strength of the vote would determine if the full Senate could also confirm Panetta by unanimous consent next week.
But Bond still had questions for Panetta after today's hearing. Asked if he is leaning toward voting to confirm Panetta, Bond only said: "I don't lean; I either do or I don't." He added: "We need to get all the information." Bond has been pressing Panetta on his views about rendition, or the practice of rounding up terrorist suspects and transferring them to other countries for interrogation. Under questioning today, Panetta retracted comments he made Thursday indicating the Bush administration transferred detainees to locations where it was known they would be tortured. Panetta said renditions would continue under the Obama administration on condition that the CIA has assurances from other countries that detainees will not be tortured.
In other questioning, Panetta told Feinstein that he will encourage CIA analysts to challenge and question intelligence they receive. "Very frankly you have to make waves," he said, suggesting that analysts should challenge assumptions and sources. Feinstein said one of the main reasons she wanted to lead the committee was to ensure that massive intelligence failures, such as the pre-war assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, never happen again.
By AMY HARDER
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder and Time's Mark Halperin are reporting that Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) may be the choice for Health and Human Services secretary. Ambinder writes that the governor, who is widely known for cutting costs more than pushing for universal health care, is in "serious discussions" with the White House about the position.
Obama would likely face serious pushback on Bredesen from left-leaning groups expecting universal health care legislation early in his administration. Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said that Bredesen "presided over the largest public health cutbacks in the history of our nation, and his actions are the antithesis of the president's desired direction for health care reform." How does he compare to Obama's first choice for the job? "He's the polar opposite of Tom Daschle," Pollack said. He added that he found it "very difficult to imagine" Obama picking Bredesen and could not think of any reason why he would.
Pollack mentioned some names that his organization would prefer to see leading the way on health care: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D).
Bredesen's Almanac profile is available to subscribers here.
Pool reporter Margaret Talev of McClatchy Newspapers managed to snag some details from President Obama's closed meetings with Democrats Thursday night in Williamsburg, Va. Considering most pool reports stick to what is officially "pooled" to the press, this reporter deserves today's Poolitzer Prize for going one step further.
The pool report, edited only for clarity, follows.
Travel Pool Report #5 - some detail from closed press Q&A at Kingsmill Two Democratic sources in the Kingsmill ballroom for the Q & A (neither on WH staff) provided accounts to your pooler via email afterward on condition of anonymity with understanding they would be distributed via the pool report.As they described the session, at one point Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island asked POTUS if he would lift President Bush's limits on federal stem cell research funding and POTUS said, "I guarantee you that we will sign an executive order for stem cells" but that he wants to work with the House and Senate to make the order solid. "God gave us (the) power to make smart decisions , to cure diseases, to alleviate suffering," POTUS said according to one of the two sources.
Obama also called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "a rock," which he also did in public remarks. He also praised Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other leaders.
Rep. David Scott of Ga. Made a pitch for the president to continue funding the F-22 Raptor saying it could mean 50,000 jobs in his district. POTUS said he would make that decision with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and always consider how decisions affected security of nation.
He said he always would take into account local economies "but we also have to deal with the debt and it is unsustainable. We have to make tough decisions."
Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa asked POTUS for his thoughts on Afghanistan.
POTUS said his administration was "in the midst of a number of reviews" internally. He said military means alone wouldn't work, diplomatic efforts needed in Pakistan. POTUS got cheers when he said he was wary of mission creep without clear parameters and ... don't let it become a safe haven."
By AMY HARDER
President Obama signed an executive order today creating a new Economic Recovery Advisory Board made up of 15 leaders from the private sector who will advise him on his plans for economic recovery. The list includes former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson, General Electric CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt, Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens and SEIU's Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger. (Complete list available after the jump.) Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will be the board's chair, and White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee will be the board's staff director and chief economist.
"I'm not interested in groupthink, which is why the board reflects a broad cross-section of experience, expertise and ideology," Obama said at the press conference announcing the appointments. He added that the board is intended to allow White House policymakers to here "voices that come from beyond the echo chamber of Washington, D.C."
Some members clearly have a stake in how the stimulus bill turns out and Obama's agenda overall. Immelt's Caterpillar, for instance, was among the companies reporting sky-high job losses in January (22,000). Burger's SEIU was one of the many labor groups supporting Obama in the campaign and has been advocating hard for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill designed to make it easier for unions to organize that has triggered intense debate between business and labor interests. The board has more conservative representation as well, including Donaldson, who served as SEC chairman under George W. Bush, and Harvard professor Martin Feldstein, who served in Ronald Reagan's administration.
A complete list of the members is available after the jump.
Continue reading Obama Reaches Out To Private Sector For Economic Advice.
by KASIE HUNT and DAN FRIEDMAN, CongressDaily
The White House and labor groups continued to back Rep. Hilda Solis' nomination for Labor secretary Thursday, despite her husband's tax troubles.
Senators delayed a committee vote on the California Democrat's confirmation after reports her husband, Sam Sayyad, paid $6,400 this week to settle 15 state and county tax liens on his small business in California. "We reviewed her tax returns and her tax returns are in order," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, adding, "We're not going to penalize her for her husband's business mistakes."
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., said the hearing, which had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was not delayed because of the tax problem per se but to allow the committee more time to review new information. He declined to comment on the status of her nomination but wouldn't say whether he felt it would delay her nomination.
In a joint statement, Enzi and HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said: "There are no holds on her nomination and members on both sides of the aisle remain committed to giving her nomination the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves. We will continue to work together to move this nomination forward as soon as possible."
Gibbs said the White House does not believe her confirmation is in jeopardy.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas said her husband's tax problem is a serious concern. "I'd have a tough time supporting it [her confirmation]," he said.
The revelation comes after two other Obama appointees withdrew because of tax problems. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., abandoned his bid to be Health and Human Services secretary and White House health care czar because of his failure to pay taxes on a car service provided by a close friend's private equity firm.
Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination to be chief performance officer after questions arose about a D.C. tax lien and her household help. Solis' confirmation had been previously delayed because Republicans wanted more information about her views on "card-check" legislation and had questions about her affiliation with nonprofit groups.
Labor groups continued to back Solis Thursday. "It is crucial that the American people have a strong and dynamic Department of Labor," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "We have confidence that Rep. Hilda Solis is the right person to lead that charge, and we hope a committee vote can be rescheduled soon."
George E. Condon Jr. contributed to this report.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
President Obama's pick to head the CIA on Thursday found himself in the crossfire of political and policy differences between Democrats and Republicans on controversial intelligence matters.
Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee peppered Leon Panetta during his confirmation hearing with questions on issues that have sharply divided lawmakers along party lines. That included whether intelligence officials should be prosecuted for conducting coercive interrogations of terrorism suspects and how practical it would be to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A second round of the hearing is slated for today, as Republicans still have questions.
Panetta said he believes that waterboarding, or choking detainees with water, is torture. The U.S. government has admitted subjecting three detainees to waterboarding.
But Panetta said intelligence officials should not be investigated or prosecuted for conducting coercive interrogation practices if they were following what they believed to be legitimate legal opinions provided by the Justice Department during the Bush administration.
He added, however, that if officials deliberately violated the law, then "obviously in those limited cases there should be prosecutions."
Continue reading Panetta Faces Questions On Terror, Torture.
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Government Executive
Technology executives in government and the federal contracting community said Nancy Killefer's announcement on Tuesday to withdraw as President Obama's nominee for the top management post at the Office of Management and Budget is a setback in an effort to elevate information technology agency executive decision-making.
"I'm extremely disappointed since I have the utmost respect for Nancy, and think she's absolutely terrific," said Jim Flyzik, who worked for Killefer when he was chief information officer at the Treasury Department. "It's a setback. . . . It's hard to find someone as qualified as her."
Obama nominated Killefer last month to be the deputy director of management at OMB as well as the government's first chief performance officer. But she withdrew her name from consideration in response to a report from the Associated Press that in 2005 the District of Columbia government filed a tax lien of more than $900 on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help.
In her letter to Obama, Killefer, who is a senior director at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., said she was withdrawing to avoid becoming a distraction to the administration.
A spokesperson for McKinsey confirmed that Killefer remains a director working in the Washington office, though she has not worked with clients since Obama nominated her.
Max Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, expressed disappointment and told Government Executive that Killefer was an ideal choice because of her range of management experience. "Unfortunately, there are all too few people with great management experience in the public and private sectors," he said. "You can find great candidates in different packages, but it's certainly very appealing to have someone with experience in both sectors."
Continue reading Killefer Withdrawal Viewed As Setback For Federal IT.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has postponed a vote on confirmation of Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as Labor secretary on the heels of reports that her husband paid $6,400 Wednesday to settle outstanding tax liens against his Los Angeles-area auto repair business. It was not immediately clear when the hearing would be rescheduled. There were 15 state and county liens in California against Sam Sayyad and his business, according to a news report. The disclosure came two days after President Obama's Health and Human Services nominee, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, withdrew his nomination because of tax problems.
By KEVIN FRIEDL
When President Obama signed into law an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on Wednesday, he was keeping one promise while breaking another.
The measure, designed to expand health insurance to some 4 million additional children, was a significant step towards his pledge to "require that all children have health care coverage. And in his remarks at the signing ceremony, the president called it a "down payment" on his broader pledge to bring universal coverage to the U.S.
But by signing the bill the same afternoon it was passed in the House, Obama fell to an 0-2 record on one of his most specific good-government promises, announced over a year and a half ago during a campaign speech in Manchester, N.H.: "When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it."
The wording of that pledge has since been amended to refer only to "non-emergency legislation," but neither the SCHIP legislation nor the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act he signed into law last week meet that test. The White House eventually did post the Ledbetter legislation online, but only after it had already been signed.
In response to inquiries, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro sent a statement reading in part, "We will be implementing this policy in full soon; currently we are working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar."
The White House has made some progress towards fulfilling this promise. Whereas Ledbetter didn't appear on WhiteHouse.gov until after it was signed, the administration posted a link to the SCHIP bill on Feb. 1.
"Their actions are filling the spirit of openness they pledged," said John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation, an open government group. "But they are so far failing to follow the letter of the pledge that they made."
Along with the link to the text of the legislation, the bill's page on WhiteHouse.gov included a commenting section -- but it is unclear from the site how that feedback is used, and there is no provision for seeing others' submissions or voting up and down suggestions, as there was on Obama's transition Web site. And then there is the complaint that taking feedback after a bill has already reached the president's desk means it's too late for tweaks and amendments.
"Ultimately, it seems to me that it is a meaningful thing for Obama to do, but not necessarily for immediate effects," said Wonderlich. "It's very unlikely he would veto something because of bad feedback. But it brings people into the process."
For progress updates on this and other campaign pledges, see National Journal.com's Promise Audit.
Updated at 1:05 p.m. on Feb. 5.
By LUCAS GRINDLEY
The selection of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., to head the Commerce Department shows how important the Obama administration expects it will be to forge bipartisan agreements, said Linda Bilmes, a former assistant secretary in President Clinton's Commerce Department.
"Just looking at what happened in the House last week with the stimulus package, you can see that old habits die hard in terms of partisanship and so forth. So I think that it's a welcome development that Senator Gregg will join this administration," she said in an interview mainly about how to prevent waste in the stimulus package and about her upcoming book on improving the federal workforce, titled The People Factor.
Bilmes praised Gregg's knowledge of budgeting and said it will be an asset while brokering compromises. "He was on the Senate Budget Committee. He's been in the appropriations world for years. I think he has a very good understanding of the budget, of the competing issues and so forth. And I think that the need -- in the economic crisis -- the need to try and create a bipartisan approach is a very, very important need. And I think that government will be stronger for having that."
Bilmes said that since her former agency focuses largely on science, "a lot of what the Commerce Department does is very bipartisan in nature."
Read more from Blimes in today's Insider Interview at NationalJournal.com. Check back next week for more about her book, which outlines how the government can spend $10 billion on efficiency to earn a $300 billion return.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The House cleared an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program today, 290-135, allowing President Obama to schedule a signing ceremony later this afternoon. Although the House passed its own SCHIP bill last month, it approved the Senate's similar version today without holding conference talks.
House Democrats say the bill was signed into law quickly to hasten implementation. Senior House Democratic sources also noted that passage of SCHIP was a welcome change in the difficult news cycles the Obama administration has faced this week with the resignation of their Health and Human Services nominee.
"They need something to distract from Tom Daschle's driver," said a top Democratic lobbyist who has followed the issue, referring to revelations that Daschle failed to pay taxes on his use of a chauffeur-driven car. The bill is expected to bring 4 million more children into SCHIP, increasing the number covered to 11 million. The Senate also added an amendment that allows children to receive dental coverage through SCHIP without being forced to drop their private health insurance.
House Republicans complained they were not allowed to offer amendments. GOP members in both chambers objected to including children whose families earn up to 300 percent of the poverty level without first ensuring that the poorest children receive coverage.
President Obama's retreat with Senate Democrats this afternoon was closed to the press, which isn't surprising in and of itself. Pooler Ken Herman of Cox Newspapers sees it in a slightly different light. Lamenting the newspaper industry and skewering Obama in one quick stroke, Herman wins today's Poolitzer Prize.
The pool report, edited only for clarity, follows.
POTUS visits shrine to once-great industryMotorcade rolled from White House at 1:38 p.m. en route to Newseum for POTUS meeting with Senate Democrats who were retreating. Arrived at Newseum at 1:43 p.m.
Pool was ushered to hold. The event - though at a facility honoring the First Amendment and the people's right to know stuff - was closed press. Go figure.
Motorcade rolled from Newseum at 2:46 p.m., with White House arrival at 2:49 p.m.
Any further details about the event, if made available, will come from White House Press Office.
By AMY HARDER
At the United States Institute for Peace conference on media and diplomacy Tuesday, NationalJournal.com was able to speak for a few minutes with James Glassman, who succeeded Karen Hughes as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs in the last year of the Bush administration. Glassman discussed the qualities his own yet-to-be-named successor should possess and how President Obama can use the media to improve relations with the Middle East. Edited excerpts follow:
NJ: What can the Obama administration do to enhance public diplomacy through new media and the Internet?
Glassman: Let me tell you the most important thing it should do. The administration needs to appoint a successor to me... who has an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations. That's an imperative. What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker. That would be a huge mistake.
NJ: Does this relate to the notion put forth in the [USIP] panel discussion that, when it comes to public diplomacy, action speaks louder than words?
Glassman: It's more than that. It's really a conception of the job as -- not as necessarily making everyone love us, but a conception of the job that is to try to achieve foreign policy goals of the United States in a sophisticated way, especially involving other parts of government, and that's what we tried to do. When I came to the job, or before I came to the job, I didn't understand it in that way.I am worried that the administration, for all its talk about the importance of public diplomacy in a broader sense, will see it in a narrow sense as being brand-building, image-building. So the person who gets appointed undersecretary of state of public diplomacy, whoever that is, that person's background and outlook -- that's going to tell you a lot about how truly serious this administration is. So far, we haven't seen much, and I think that's a mistake, too. They should have appointed somebody quickly.
Continue reading Q&A: Outgoing State Dept. Official Offers Diplomatic Advice.
By DAVID HERBERT
President Obama torched Wall Street executives during a morning press conference to announce that firms receiving "extraordinary" federal aid must limit CEO pay at $500,000 a year.
"We all need to take responsibility," said Obama, who was flanked by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. "And this includes executives at major financial firms who turned to the American people, hat in hand, when they were in trouble, even as they paid themselves their customary lavish bonuses. As I said last week, that's the height of irresponsibility. It's shameful."
The new Treasury Department guidelines cap executive pay at $500,000 a year for financial firms receiving "exceptional assistance" (as opposed to more widely available capital access programs). Any amount beyond that must be made in restricted stock options that can be cashed in only after the government has been paid back.
Obama also used the press conference to make another pitch for his stimulus package, which hasn't won over a critical mass of lawmakers. The plan as it stands now is not perfect, he admitted, "but let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task."
Seventy-five percent of Americans favor passing a package in some form, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday, but 54 percent either want to make changes or reject it entirely.
Tax experts say the "innocent mistakes" that have sunk two Cabinet candidacies "were not cases of something really esoteric" and could have been avoided. (Washington Post)
Nancy Killefer, President Obama's nominee for White House deputy budget director and chief performance officer, withdrew her candidacy, citing unpaid taxes. (AP)
Leon Panetta, Obama's choice for CIA director, earned more than $1 million last year from speaking and consulting fees and board directorships. (Politico)
While calling for a "more narrowly focused Afghanistan policy," the Obama administration has been disappointed to find the situation on the ground worse than they previously realized. (Washington Post)
After being sworn in Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to restore the credibility of the Justice Department, "which has been so badly shaken by allegations of improper political interference." (Politico)
Gene Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal bishop, says that after meeting Obama, he had no doubts the president was "right where I wanted him to be" on gay issues. (The Advocate)
All Daschle, All The Time
After watching Tom Daschle withdraw his candidacy for Health and Human Services secretary, some observers think the former majority leader pulled out too soon. (Time)
"I screwed up," Obama admitted Tuesday night in an interview with NBC after Daschle dropped out. (Wall Street Journal)
The founders of two nonprofits linked to Daschle sprinkled campaign contributions around town. (Wall Street Journal)
While the White House insisted that health care reform is "bigger than one person", Daschle's abrupt departure puts a kink in Obama's plan to ram legislation through early in his term. (New York Times)
The Obama administration is unsure how to proceed without Daschle, aides confess, saying "there were no other names" for the HHS post. (Washington Post)
Indeed, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called the withdrawal a "major blow" in the health care reform efforts on the Hill. (CongressDailyAM -- subscription)
This Judd In
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pushed Obama to consider Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., for the top job at the Commerce Department. (Politico)
Gregg will likely be tasked with winning over Republican lawmakers, but some say he could have been more valuable to Obama as a senator than as a Cabinet member. (Roll Call -- subscription)
The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for a "detailed examination" of Gregg to ensure, among other things, that minority-owned businesses are "fully integrated" into the country's economic recovery. (CongressDailyAM -- subscription)
Gregg owns between $1 million and $5 million worth of Bank of America stock -- and voted in favor of the $700 billion rescue package last fall to pump billions into the bank. (Los Angeles Times)
The pundit class is already buzzing with reaction to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's withdrawal as Health and Human Services Secretary-designate today. Here are a few initial takes:
"This just in," quips the Dallas Morning News' Todd J. Gillman. "If you want a cabinet post, and you haven't paid your taxes, try to get confirmed before all the other nominees who haven't paid all their taxes."
"Why did Barack Obama stick by him so defiantly for so long?" wonders Philip Sherwell of the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph. "And in the current horrendous economic climate, how did he think this was playing outside the Beltway? And what happened to that much-vaunted vetting process?"
"Odds are that Daschle could have gutted out the hearings and won confirmation, but he and/or the Obama administration weren't willing to deal with the distraction and were concerned about his lobbyist-like activities," CBSNews.com editor in chief Daniel Farber asserts.
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder questions whether Daschle withdrew too soon: "The fact remains that until late last night, not a single senator, Republican or Democrat, came out against Daschle's confirmation. This morning, there was only one -- Sen. Jim DeMint."
And in case anyone doubts the influence of the editorial boards, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports that Daschle made his decision to withdraw after reading this morning's New York Times editorial calling upon him to do so.
For its part, however, the Times speculates -- in an update to that same editorial -- that Daschle may have been "propelled" to withdraw after Nancy Killefer, the former White House chief performance czar, withdrew her nomination to be White House chief performance officer today because of her own tax woes.And Moving On...
Reuters has a list of possible second choices for HHS, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
But The American Prospect's Ezra Klein doesn't think Dean or former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber will be nominated.
"One of the tactical arguments in favor of keeping Daschle was that it wasn't clear who had the combination of stature and health care knowledge to replace him." The New Republic's Noam Scheiber suggests Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
By GEORGE E. CONDON JR., CongressDaily
President Obama pulled former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's nomination to be HHS secretary today after Daschle said he did not want tax problems to distract from the need to reform America's health care system.
"I accept his decision with sadness and regret," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House. Obama said Daschle erred by not paying nearly $140,000 in back taxes and interest until last month, but said that mistake should not overshadow Daschle's long career in public service.
Daschle had been picked to be the architect of the Obama administration's high-profile effort to overhaul the health care system. Instead, his departure and the search for his replacement will bring that process to a halt.
In a statement issued late this morning, Daschle called the nomination "one of the signal honors of an improbable career." He said he asked to withdraw because the president needed someone who could lead "without distraction" and Congress needed to focus on efforts to revive the economy and provide health care rather than being sidetracked by his nomination.
Daschle's nomination had been viewed as a slam dunk when it was announced, given his former leadership of the body that would confirm him. But revelations that he had recently paid back taxes and penalties put the brakes on his confirmation.
The bulk of the back taxes stem from a car service provided by a private equity investment fund run by Leo Hindery Jr., a friend of Daschle's and a major Democratic fundraiser.
By ALINA SELYUKH
In a move Sen. Judd Gregg described as "extraordinary," President Obama named the New Hampshire Republican as his nominee for secretary of Commerce, rounding out his economic team and filling one of the last two vacancies in the Cabinet.
"He's seen from all angles what makes our economy work for communities, businesses and families -- and what keeps it from working better," Obama said in his remarks this morning. Obama went on to praise his nominee for his fiscal conservatism and for "reaching across the aisle to get things done." Gregg will be the third Republican addition to the Cabinet, following Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Gregg served four terms in the House and two as New Hampshire's governor before running for Senate in 1992. He currently sits on the Commerce Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, a point Obama made during his introductory remarks.
Gregg spoke sharply about Obama during the campaign but today called the president's economic plan "bold and aggressive, comprehensive and effective." As the Commerce Department's "steward," Obama said, Gregg will "defy the winds of this crisis" by guiding his team to rebuild infrastructure, create jobs, promote industry and retain U.S. leadership in science and technology developments.
The nomination of the 61-year-old senior senator comes almost a month after the original nominee, Gov. Bill Richardson (D) of New Mexico, bowed out, citing a pending investigation into his administration's possible involvement with lucrative contracts to a political donor.
The news of Gregg's potential nomination had Democrats exulting over a chance to add another Senate seat to their caucus, giving them a supermajority there if they are officially awarded the disputed Minnesota contest. But Gregg proved unwilling to give up the seat if it would tip the Senate's balance further in the Democrats' favor. "I have made it clear to the Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle and to the governor that I would not leave the Senate if I felt my departure would cause a change in the makeup of the Senate," he said earlier this week. In his acceptance comments today, Gregg thanked New Hampshire's Gov. John Lynch (D) for "courtesy and courage in being willing to make this possible" by agreeing to appoint a Republican as Gregg's Senate successor.
Sure of the senate balance remaining stable, Gregg turned to bipartisanship appeals in his final remarks. "This is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other. This is a time to govern and govern well," he said, accepting the nomination. "It was my obligation to say yes."
The president and his new Cabinet pick took no questions from the assembled press.
UPDATED at 12:55 p.m. to reflect Tom Daschle's announcement that he would withdraw his nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services.
By DAVID HERBERT
Nancy Killefer has ended her candidacy to be the nation's first chief performance officer, a nomination President Obama once touted as "among the most important" he would make.
In a letter to Obama dated today, Killefer cited tax problems with the District of Columbia. The Associated Press revealed shortly after her nomination that the District hit Killefer with a $946 tax lien on her home in 2005 after she failed to pay unemployment compensation for household help.
Killefer, an executive with consulting titan McKinsey & Co., is expected to give a news conference this afternoon. In addition to the newly created CPO position, she would have been deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget.
Killefer is Obama's second high-profile nominee to withdraw (along with would-be Commerce Secretary Bill Richardson) and the third nominee to have received scrutiny over unpaid taxes, after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle.
Read text of Killefer's letter to Obama after the jump.
Continue reading Killefer Cites Tax Problems In Ending CPO Bid.
President Obama promised to stamp out lobbyist influence in his administration, but "what he did not talk much about were the asterisks." (New York Times)
Top military brass are pushing Obama to shift course in Afghanistan to prioritize safety and stability over democratic and economic achievements. (Politico)
The Senate confirmed Eric Holder for attorney general by a 75-21 vote, freeing Obama up to lobby for Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle. (Washington Times)
Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as secretary of state Monday by Vice President Joe Biden, with her husband, daughter and mother in attendance. (Washington Post)
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., "will no longer hold up" the nomination of former lobbyist William Lynn for the number two job at the Pentagon. (Boston Globe)
A growing number of former journalists are joining the ranks of the Obama administration, which, conservatives say, is yet further proof of a liberal media bias. (New York Times)
Name Games
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is set to be named Commerce secretary today, while the governor of the Granite State has promised to appoint a Republican to take his seat, denying Democrats their shot at 60 seats in the Senate. (Boston Globe)
Obama has nominated Christopher Hill, a career diplomat who tried to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear program, as the next ambassador to Iraq. (Washington Post)
Ron Sims, a county executive from Washington state, has been nominated to be deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (NationalJournal.com)
The Obama administration may be tipping its hand by retaining the services of Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence who guided the Bush administration's policy of economic sanctions against Iran. (Los Angeles Times)
All Daschle, All The Time
Daschle's record since leaving office "looks, smells and tastes" like that of a lobbyist, but the Obama administration argued that he's not -- because he never registered. (Time)
Daschle spent most of Monday apologizing to senators for not paying more than $120,000 in taxes. (AP)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., isn't buying Daschle's mea culpa and wants his nomination pulled. (The Hill)
Daschle pushed a former client for the Commerce secretary and U.S. Trade Representative jobs, sources say. (Politico)
Daschle also "received speaking fees last year from two organizations that are aligned with health industry groups that opposed strong patient privacy protections in the health care section of the stimulus bill." (NextGov)
President Obama announced today that he will nominate Ron Sims, county executive of King County, Wash., to be deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sims will oversee day-to-day operations, a $39 billion operating budget and HUD's 8,500 employees, per a White House press release. Sims is in his third term as the top official in King County, which encompasses Seattle and ranks as the 13th most populous county in the nation, with an annual budget of $4.9 billion and more than 13,000 county employees. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in the press release that he is "thrilled and honored that Ron has agreed to be considered for this role," adding that "he is the perfect person to help HUD return to national leadership on metropolitan planning."
The nomination of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., for Commerce secretary is "nearly a done deal," but the final sticking point is making sure he's replaced by a Republican to avoid giving the Democrats a super-majority. (Politico)
President Obama's executive orders banning lobbyists, closing secret prisons and ending torture are littered with asterisks, and that has watchdog groups calling foul. (Washington Times)
Obama is keeping the controversial tactic of rendition, even as he closes Guantanamo Bay prison and bans torture. (Los Angeles Times)
Richard Holbrooke's appointment as South Asia envoy is ruffling some feathers in the region. (Los Angeles Times)
Obama won't push for an end to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, instead opting for a review of it before he makes the case for gays to be allowed to serve openly. (Boston Globe)
Obama is "dialing back the ceremonial glitz" in light of the recession, cutting back on his use of the Marine Band and considering more modest fare at formal dinners. (Politico)
Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, is carving out a big niche for himself in the White House -- and setting up the possibility of conflict with other departments and agencies down the line. (Wall Street Journal)
Even after going to bat for Obama during the general election, Hollywood will need to lobby if it wants the new president to support its causes, which range from stem cell research to action in Darfur. (Politico)
Jill Biden, who has been identified as "doctor" in most White House press releases, is thought to be the first second lady to hold a paying job while her husband is in office. (Los Angeles Times)
Former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is out of a job, but she's still plugging for No Child Left Behind. (USA Today)
Confirmation Wrangling
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., may be holding up the nomination of Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle, with whom he has a long-running feud. (Politico)
The tax woes clouding Daschle's nomination offer a peek into the world of Washington business and lobbying that is populated by former lawmakers trading on their names and knowledge of the town. (New York Times)
Unpaid taxes aren't the only hurdle facing Daschle's nomination: The former Senate majority leader is also being scrutinized for overseas trips he took on a nonprofit's dime. (Wall Street Journal)
Attorney General-designate Eric Holder will likely be confirmed and sworn in today, clearing the way for the Justice Department to begin drafting a new detention policy for terrorism suspects. (New York Times)
