President Obama's pick to lead the 2010 census has pledged to lawmakers that he will maintain his independence at the helm of the decennial count.
Robert Groves, who this week submitted written answers to a questionnaire prepared by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote that he would "actively resist any attempt at interference" by outsiders. Groves said he would resign if he encounters overwhelming political pressure that would compromise the process.
Republicans are wary (subscription) that census officials might attempt to use statistical sampling to correct for an undercount of minorities, an adjustment that would result in a boost in funding and congressional representation for Democratic areas.
Groves, whose confirmation hearing is set for Tuesday, reiterated the statement of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke that there are "no plans" to use sampling to adjust census data. "On matters of the scientific bases and statistical properties of the census ... the White House can have no role," Groves added.
The newly appointed federal chief technology officer has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, but Aneesh Chopra plans to issue recommendations on an open government directive by May 21, a White House official said.
The administration, via a blog and possibly through other new media conduits, plans to invite the public to comment on the memo as early as next week.
A presidential memo issued on Jan. 21, the day after Barack Obama's inauguration, set a deadline of May 21 for suggestions from the CTO on how to create a more transparent, collaborative and participatory government. The Obama administration then plans to issue a directive to all agencies based on the recommendations, according to the memo.
Chopra will honor the president's request with some form of a proposal, but it will not be the final product many open government activists were expecting, said the White House official, who asked not to be identified because the person is not authorized to talk publicly about the issue.
One hang-up has been Chopra's murky official status. On April 18 he was named an assistant to President Obama and appointed associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and his Senate confirmation is still pending. The administration also has yet to seek public comment on the memo, an omission that some transparency advocates argue weakens the open government initiative.
"People are going to be pretty upset if it's coming out in dribs and drabs, understanding that they're understaffed, but that's also an indication of the commitment of the White House," said Patrice McDermott, director of Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of journalists, advocacy groups and unions focused on strengthening public trust in government.
The White House has not announced a deadline for the directive.
President Obama's trade team is coming into focus with the Senate's confirmation Wednesday of Demetrios Marantis as deputy U.S. Trade Representative. Marantis was Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' top trade staffer.
Obama also said Wednesday he will work to open foreign markets to U.S. products and make it easier for other countries to sell their goods here, and that he is "developing a plan of action for pending trade agreements" with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.
Obama discussed the benefits of global trade in his proclamation that the third week of May will be World Trade Week, a tradition dating back to the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. Positive words might be expected in such a proclamation, but Obama himself up until this point had largely delegated the subject to Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Kirk has said the administration would like to move "relatively quickly" on the Panama pact, which has angered some labor unions and critics on Capitol Hill. The Colombia and South Korea deals are still seen as longer-term projects with no timeline for action.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., will keep a hold on President Obama's pick to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency until he receives a satisfactory answer on updating flood maps in his state, his office said Tuesday.
Vitter is seeking a resolution to an issue that has prevented Louisiana parishes ravished by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 from rebuilding. He met Monday with W. Craig Fugate, who has been nominated to head FEMA, but did not get enough information to lift his hold.
According to Vitter's office, local rebuilding efforts have been stalled because FEMA is relying on outdated maps. Vitter has been waiting for more than two months for FEMA to explain its plan for updating the maps.
Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu also has concerns, but said she has been assured the problem is being resolved. "While I share Sen. Vitter's concerns, it is counterproductive to hold this exceptionally qualified and experienced nominee to head FEMA, particularly when hurricane season starts next month," she said in a statement.
President Obama has announced he will nominate former South Carolina Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum to be chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Robert Adler as a new commissioner on the panel. If confirmed, Tenenbaum would replace Acting Chairwoman Nancy Nord.
With just four days under his belt, the Pentagon's new head of acquisition is sifting through the massive job ahead of him and establishing a to-do list that includes reviews of major procurements.
Ashton Carter, who was sworn in as the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics on Monday, said Thursday that much of what would have been his first order of duty was accomplished during the lead-up to Defense Secretary Robert Gates' release of the department's budget request in early April. Gates recommended major changes in the Pentagon's procurement priorities, including cuts to a number of programs.
Nonetheless, Carter said examining troubled programs and acting on Gates' plan is his first priority. The new acquisition chief plans to review all the department's projects gradually to ensure they are being properly executed.
His second focus will be on logistics, an area he said sometimes is overlooked. With two ongoing wars and a major shift in combat operations, Carter said, attention to logistics will be crucial.
"What's ringing in my ears is the secretary of Defense's often-expressed frustration that the troops are at war but the building as a whole is not," Carter said. "I don't want him to feel that way about his acquisition operation and logistics operation."
Among the greatest challenges will be refocusing resources from Iraq to Afghanistan in President Obama's timeframe.
"We have quite a lot of stuff to move out of Iraq and into Afghanistan ... that's a non-trivial matter both to conceive and to execute, and we can't afford not to meet those timetables," Carter said.
Acquisition reform will be another priority, he noted. Carter already is looking into the appropriate role of contractors "from Blackwater security in theater to pink badges at the Pentagon" and said he wants to improve the government's ability to acquire products quickly.
Presidential and congressional interest in reforms will be an asset, he said.
"If it is going to be different than other efforts at acquisition reform, it's going to be because of that constellation of people who are interested in taking some risk to do things differently if they can see the payoff," Carter said.
The Senate Thursday overwhelmingly confirmed Tom Strickland's nomination as assistant Interior secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, but Republican holds might delay the appointment of two of his fellow deputies at the department.
The Senate, 89-2, approved Strickland, who will continue to be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff. He is only the second of President Obama's nominees for Interior to be confirmed.
Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Thursday announced he will try to hold up the nomination of Hilary Tompkins to be solicitor at Interior because he wants Salazar to clarify the administration's position on an agreement reached in 2003 between Utah and Interior, where the department agreed to stop designating land as wilderness study areas. Tompkins as solicitor would have to defend that agreement, which resulted from a lawsuit Utah filed against the federal government in 1996.
"I need to better understand the legal opinions and director of who will be the department's chief legal officer, and the answers provided just don't cut it," Bennett said. He sent a letter to Salazar Thursday seeking clarification.
Bennett also has a hold on David Hayes to be Interior deputy secretary because he wants more answers regarding why the administration canceled oil and gas leases in Utah.
President Obama's pick to head the EPA's air pollution division is being blocked from confirmation by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., over concerns about the agency's plans for regulating carbon dioxide.
Barrasso's office confirmed Wednesday that he has placed a hold on the nomination of Gina McCarthy to become director of the EPA Office of Air and Radiation.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved McCarthy's nomination last week by voice vote, with only Barrasso opposed.
McCarthy is the head of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Kathleen Sebelius became the final member of President Obama's Cabinet to win Senate confirmation Tuesday, as the chamber voted 65-31 to approve her appointment as HHS secretary. Under an agreement with Republicans, the confirmation required 60 votes to be approved.
Sebelius, 60, immediately announced her resignation as Kansas governor, allowing Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, a former state Republican chairman turned Democrat, to ascend to the state's top elected office.
President Obama administered the oath of office to Sebelius just after 8 p.m. Obama tapped Sebelius for the HHS post in early March, after his first choice, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., withdrew from consideration following revelations he owed about $140,000 in back taxes and interest.
Sebelius also faced tax questions, but survived after paying about $8,000 in back taxes and interest because of what she called unintentional errors. Sebelius still faced opposition from Republicans, though, including senators concerned about her lack of experience in health care policy and for support she received from a Kansas physician who provides abortions.
By JILL R. AITORO, Nextgov
Google's chief executive officer is one of 20 individuals that will advise the president and vice president in formulating policy about science, technology and innovation.
Eric Schmidt, Google chairman of the board and CEO, is the only person named to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, or PCAST, that comes directly from the information technology community. Prior to joining Google in 2001, he held executive positions at Novell and Sun Microsystems.
Schmidt will join experts in the areas of nanotechnology, oceanography, climate-change science and ecology, and solar system exploration, to name a few, in advising the administration about "national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation," President Obama said in a statement.
PCAST will be co-chaired by John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project; and Harold Varmus, president and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, former head of the National Institutes of Health and a Nobel laureate.
PCAST members under the George W. Bush administration wrote a transition letter that highlighted for their successors operational procedures and critical issues identified during their two terms on the council, and suggested that the new council work closely with the administration -- conducting interviews with people in the White House as well as in cabinet agencies -- to determine topics of study.
"The important role played by science and technology in our modern society can not be overemphasized," the previous council wrote in the letter. "As a result, the importance of dedicated individuals to provide advice to future administrations will be of growing importance."
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Only one Agriculture Department undersecretary and one assistant secretary have been confirmed by the Senate, but when the holders of many USDA sub-Cabinet positions get to their desks they will find that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has already put their confidential and special assistants with proven Obama campaign experience in place.
"These individuals, representing diverse backgrounds, strengths and skills, are a dynamic team prepared to address the issues facing 21st century food and agriculture," Vilsack said in a recent news release announcing the hiring of 14 aides. "They are committed to the president's goals for a prosperous rural America and a strong American agriculture and they believe that U.S. agriculture must play a leadership role in tackling the nation's renewable energy challenges."
Vilsack announced that the confidential assistant for Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Jim Miller is Elisabeth Reiter, a director of advance for Obama's campaign who previously worked on many other campaigns, including for Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
Vilsack also announced that the special assistant to Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Joe Leonard is Cristina Chiappe, the Latino vote director for the Obama campaign in Virginia. Chiappe, a native of Peru, has also been a research associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership's National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth in Washington.
The other campaign aides are assigned to offices in which the undersecretary has not yet been confirmed.
By CARRIE DANN, CongressDaily
Former Census Bureau director Kenneth Prewitt will become involved with the 2010 decennial count as the agency's part-time consultant, the Commerce Department confirmed today. Prewitt, a Clinton-era appointee who ran the bureau from 1998-2001, was widely considered to be a frontrunner to return to the post in advance of next year's population count but withdrew his name from consideration earlier this year.
President Obama nominated another former bureau official, Robert Groves, earlier this month to fill the post instead. Now a professor at Columbia University, Prewitt will work "a couple days a week" with bureau officials to troubleshoot problems that arise as the nation's largest peacetime mobilization effort gets underway, said Commerce Department spokesman Nick Kimball.
House Republicans, who have raised concerns that the potentially controversial headcount will be unduly influenced by the White House, have drafted a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to object to Prewitt's "back door entry" to the bureau without going through the Senate confirmation process. Democrats scoffed at the complaint, pointing out that it is hardly uncommon for former federal officials to offer expertise on a part-time basis. "Considering former Secretary [Carlos] Gutierrez used [Prewitt] as a consultant, too, you have to ask why the Republicans are in such a tizzy," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. Groves' Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for May 6.
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Nextgov
Following reports that surfaced last week, a White House spokesman has confirmed to Nextgov that Google executive Sonal Shah will be joining the Obama administration as director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.
Formerly the head of Google's philanthropic arm, Shah is slated to lead the office, which is expected to work with nonprofits and community organizations to encourage "social entrepreneurship." The administration has thus far avoided releasing any details about the mission or structure of the office. Shah also served as a member of Obama's transition team, helping to develop technology policy.
The news of Shah's appointment has been greeted favorably in some circles, particularly among the philanthropic community.
However, her involvement with the White House has been controversial due to her ties to the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is accused of using charitable works in India as a cover for inciting communal hatred. The VHP has been condemned by the State Department and the nonprofit Human Rights Watch for its role in the 2002 mob violence in Gujurat, which resulted in the deaths of 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama late Thursday nominated Edward Avalos, a New Mexico agriculture marketing official, to be USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
Avalos has spent 34 years in agriculture marketing, including promoting the sale of chile peppers in 12 states; sheep, goats and cattle in Mexico; and pecans in Japan and China. The position requires Senate confirmation.
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
A lawmaker who backed the recent selection of Aneesh Chopra for White House chief technology officer continues to push his bill to make the position permanent, more powerful and more expansive, because the job's responsibilities are not what President Obama had first described.
Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., is still backing a bill (H.R. 1910) he introduced on April 2, because the job the president granted Chopra -- coordinating national strategies to spur innovation throughout the economy -- is not the role outlined during the transition. At that time, Obama said the responsibilities would be "to ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices."
The CTO -- the first-ever in government -- will focus more on leveraging technology to drive public and private innovation rather than using technology to transform government operations. Vivek Kundra, Obama's chief information officer, who resides in the Office of Management and Budget, will play that role by overseeing government-wide information technology. Obama made the CTO an assistant to the president, with direct access to him, and an associate director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, reporting to OSTP Director John Holdren.
In contrast, the Connolly proposal would station an official in the Executive Office of the President to supervise both technology government-wide and national technology strategies.
Connolly said his bill would ensure that the CTO is the supreme technology leader in the White House, responsible for advancing intergovernmental and nationwide technology. Under the measure, the CTO's duties would include assessing federal IT policies, analyzing trends inIT, developing IT to assist human resource management, evaluating the effect of systems on privacy and security, and advising the president on the federal IT budget.
"What I'm trying to do here is essentially provide a statutory framework for what President Obama has done by executive order," said Connolly, referring to a February order that established the position of assistant to the president and chief technology officer. "It is a logical extension of what he has done. It guarantees that the CTO is the spokesman for technology in the federal government and the White House itself -- and the advocate for it."
By WINTER CASEY
In the next few months it is expected that Philip Verveer will become the State Department's next U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, according to sources familiar with the matter. Verveer will be filling the shoes of David Gross, who held the title of coordinator since 2001. The position also comes with the title of "ambassador." Sources say the White House is currently doing a background check of Verveer and his nomination will also be subject to approval by the Senate in addition to the administration. Verveer is currently counsel at the firm Jenner & Block's litigation department [bio]. He is also a member of the firm's communications practice with a focus on regulatory and antitrust issues.
Verveer has nearly three decades advising clients on communication regulatory issues before Congress, the FCC, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, Federal Trade Commission, the State Department, and the Committee on Foreign Investment. Verveer, who served in the military, also worked as a partner in the Washington office of Willkie Farr & Gallagher where he founded the firm's communications practice. He has also served as a trial attorney in the Justice Department's antitrust division, a supervisory attorney in the FTC's Bureau of Competition, and as the chief of the cable bureau at the FCC. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1969 and is married to Melanne Verveer, who was Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief of staff when she was first lady. President Obama has tapped her to be his ambassador at large for global women's issues.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Tammy Duckworth, a disabled veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq war and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2006, is the new assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs at the Veterans Affairs Department.
The Senate confirmed Duckworth to the post Wednesday by unanimous consent. President Obama nominated Duckworth in February, but Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said this month he had placed a hold on her confirmation so he could conduct "due diligence ... to ensure that veterans have the best representation possible," a Burr spokesman told the Associated Press. Burr did not object when the nomination came up on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Duckworth, the former director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, sought the House seat vacated by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., in 2006, but lost to now-Rep. Peter Roskam, a Republican.
By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I/D-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, used the confirmation hearing for a top Homeland Security Department official today to criticize the poor coordination of border security efforts. With John Morton there to answer questions about his nomination to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Lieberman complained about "unacceptable turf wars" between federal agencies along the nation's Southwest border. Collins said she fears a recent decision by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to create a border czar will only exacerbate coordination problems and lead to more confusion.
Morton had to navigate through the politically charged topic of how to limit illegal immigration while clamping down on guns and money being smuggled from the United States to Mexican drug cartels. By all accounts, it appears the committee will approve his nomination and he will be confirmed by the Senate.
Lieberman decried turf wars between ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and called on Morton to help bring the problem to "a rapid halt." Morton said he is aware of the turf battles and pledged to focus on solving them immediately. He added that he personally knows key Justice Department officials, who he said will help solve the problems. Morton also said he will seek authority for ICE agents to conduct drug investigations, which can only be done on a limited basis through an agreement with the DEA. He said he would seek legislation for the authority if needed.
Collins expressed concern the Obama administration is relying on a proliferation of czars to address problems. She said she was specifically concerned about Napolitano's recent appointment of Alan Bersin, a former U.S. attorney, to be the border czar within the Homeland Security Department. Collins said she worries his responsibilities will conflict with chiefs of ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Morton said he is not concerned the roles will conflict and described Bersin as an adviser who will not have an operational role. On a related matter, Morton said in answers to written questions that he supports proposals that would require employers throughout the country to use the E-Verify system to confirm their employees are legally allowed to work in the country.
Lieberman's committee also considered the nomination of W. Craig Fugate to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fugate is widely viewed as a qualified and skilled emergency manager and is expected to be confirmed. Answering the most politically charged question of his confirmation hearing, Fugate expressed support for keeping FEMA within Homeland Security, as opposed to an independent agency under White House control. "That debate, as far as I'm concerned, is over," he said.
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
The appointment of Aneesh Chopra as the government's first chief technology officer signals that the administration is serious about updating the nation's technology infrastructure, said former federal officials, industry leaders and open government advocates.
As CTO, Chopra will be an assistant to President Obama, with direct access to him. Chopra also will serve as associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, if confirmed by the Senate for that position, administration officials said on Monday.
Until Obama tapped Chopra on April 18, the technology industry feared the president had reneged on the White House-level position he had promised during the transition. Months went by without an appointment, the administration announced the CTO would work within OSTP, and reports surfaced that heavy hitters such as Google Inc.'s CEO Eric Schmidt had turned down the job.
But with the president's ear -- Chopra, a well-respected technology secretary for the commonwealth of Virginia -- will carry the backing of the White House when conferring with agency officials. The administration's tech team also includes Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, Washington's former chief technology officer; New Media Director Macon Phillips, who helped manage Obama's online presidential campaign; and Citizen Participation Director Katie Stanton, a veteran of Google.
White House officials described the CTO and CIO positions as complementary. The CTO role involves contemplating how advanced technologies can improve the economy and quality of life, said Rick Weiss, senior science and technology policy analyst at OSTP. Examples include examining how technology can foster private sector innovation, reduce health care costs and transform teaching. Kundra will be more focused on intergovernmental uses of technologies to improve federal operations and public outreach.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama Tuesday signed into law legislation to encourage national service that aims to increase the AmeriCorps program from 75,000 to 250,000 members.
The action came on the same day Obama announced his intention to nominate Maria Eitel to be CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps and other programs such as Senior Corps.
Eitel is president of the Nike Foundation and is a vice president of Nike, Inc. According to a White House release, she helped lead the foundation's work to increase opportunities for the world's most disadvantaged girls. Nike has been criticized for harsh labor conditions at its plants in the developing world.
Before she became president of the foundation, she was Nike's first vice president for corporate responsibility. Before going to Nike, she worked at Microsoft and was deputy director of media relations and was a special assistant to the president in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush.
"Maria is a smart and innovative thinker, and a leader who shares my belief in the power of service," Obama said at the bill-signing at the SEED School of Washington.
By ROBERT BRODSKY and ELIZABETH NEWELL, Government Executive
President Obama's pick for chief performance officer is a government outsider, but observers say Jeffrey Zients' private sector experience could prove valuable in improving federal programs and reducing waste government-wide.
Zients, who also would serve as deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, is a departure from Obama's first selection for the two positions because his experience is almost exclusively in the consulting and business community. Original nominee Nancy Killefer had served in several top Treasury Department positions during the Clinton administration; Killefer withdrew her name from consideration in February after issues with her personal income tax filings surfaced.
While Zients is not well-known in government circles, his private sector work earned him a spot on Fortune magazine's list of the richest Americans under 40 in 2002. He served as chief executive officer and chairman of the Washington-based Advisory Board Co. and as head of the Corporate Executive Board, a spin-off organization.
The firms, which were established by Washington businessman David Bradley, provide best practices and customized market research on health care and financial management. Bradley is the owner of Atlantic Media, the parent company of Government Executive and National Journal.
"It's a fantastic model that, if brought to the public sector, could do a lot to help agencies decide which new management fad is really worth pursuing," said Robert Shea, who served as associate director of administration and government performance at OMB during the Bush administration and is now director of consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP's global public sector. "I don't know if he plans to use any of those methodologies in his [deputy director for management] job, but I hope he would."
By ANNA EDNEY, CongressDaily
Updated 3:45 p.m.
The Senate Finance Committee today gave Democratic Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius the green light to head HHS, signaling that President Obama will soon be able to finish filling his Cabinet. Senate Democratic leaders are working to get a full Senate vote soon, a spokeswoman for Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
The Finance Committee's 15-8 vote fell largely along party lines; all Republicans -- except Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Pat Roberts of Kansas -- voted no. Some of those opposing Sebelius cited her support of abortion rights, while others expressed dissatisfaction with her answers to questions raised during confirmation hearings.
An aide to Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley said the Iowa Republican felt Sebelius had failed to respond candidly when lawmakers asked her to explain campaign contributions from George Tiller, a prominent physician in Kansas who performs abortions. Sebelius originally said she received about $12,000 from Tiller during her run for Kansas insurance commissioner. Reports later revealed that Sebelius received nearly $40,000 from Tiller and his wife, either directly or through a PAC.
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl criticized the nominee's position on health care policy, arguing that she would eliminate choice, particularly in treatment options. Kyl said she failed to promise the government would "not use comparative effectiveness research as a tool to deny care." The latest stimulus package included $1.1 billion for research that compares the effectiveness of medical treatments. Some Republicans argue such research could be used to block access to the best care.
So far President Obama has absorbed criticism from his right and his left on national security issues. In a recent interview with NationalJournal.com's Alina Selyukh, former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff declined to join the chorus of conservative disapproval, and praised Obama for facilitating a seamless transition -- though his comments may add fuel to liberal outrage over the apparent continuation of some Bush policies.
NJ: Dick Cheney recently blamed Obama's administration for making the country less safe by turning the fight against terrorism more into a law enforcement problem. Do you agree?
Chertoff: I actually think the best take on this is that of President Bush, who has said he's not going to get in the position of sitting on the shoulder of his successor and starting to criticize. I think that's a very good position.
Speaking more generally, I'm pleased with the fact that President Obama's administration is going forward in a very measured way in looking at all the tools that we've used in dealing with terrorism. The new president has talked about closing Gitmo, but he hasn't been in a rush to do it.... They are not just throwing over everything that went before. They are protecting secrets that need to be protected. They are not relinquishing the authorities that are very important.
NJ: So you don't think the country is less safe?
Chertoff: Right now, from my standpoint there's a lot of continuity. And I think that's a good thing.
Chertoff also discussed cybercrime, border security, Somali pirates and former FEMA Director Michael Brown. Read the full interview here.
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
Aneesh Chopra, the nation's first-ever chief technology officer, would serve as both "assistant to the president" and "associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy" if confirmed by the Senate, White House officials said on Monday.
As assistant to President Obama, he would have direct access to the president, said Rick Weiss, senior science and technology policy analyst at OSTP. Within OSTP, he also would report to OSTP Director John Holdren.
The CTO job was initially touted as a White House-level position, but the technology industry feared the post had been downgraded after months went by without an appointment. When the administration announced the CTO would work at OSTP, open government advocates and industry expressed even more doubts about the job's heft.
But with the president's ear, Chopra, the current technology secretary for the state of Virginia, will automatically carry the backing of the White House when conferring with agency officials.
The CTO slot entails thinking through uses of advanced technologies that can improve the economy and quality of life, Weiss said. Examples include examining how technology can foster private sector innovation, reduce health care costs and transform teaching. White House officials described the CTO position and the role of Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra as complementary. Kundra is more focused on intergovernmental uses of technologies to improve federal operations and public outreach.
The OSTP appointment requires confirmation by the full Senate, but the assistant to the president appointment takes effect immediately, officials said.
Chopra's start date has not yet been determined, as he is tying up loose ends in the Virginia government.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
With his two latest picks for key USDA posts, President Obama is signaling a possible shake-up in several programs that have historically gotten little attention, including nutrition and agricultural research.
Kevin Concannon, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, has been tapped to be USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services -- a post that oversees, among other things, the food stamp program -- while Rajiv Shah of the Gates Foundation has been nominated for USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics. Both appointments, announced Friday, require Senate confirmation.
The undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services has traditionally not been a high-profile position. But with food stamps and school meals programs, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, now totaling about 68 percent of the department's budget, or $80 billion, that is set to change.
The child nutrition programs are scheduled for reauthorization this year, and Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack want to make the fight against child obesity a priority. The position will be critical as the debate over child nutrition and obesity policy are likely to lead to conflicts among agricultural sectors over what foods the government buys and what messages it sends the public.
As Iowa governor, Vilsack appointed Concannon as director of the department in 2003, and Vilsack's successor, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, reappointed him in 2007. Iowa DHS is in charge of food assistance as well as cash welfare and medical aid programs.
Continue reading Obama's USDA Picks Might Signal New Priorities.
By ALLAN HOLMES, Nextgov
Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra, President Obama's choice for the long-promised chief technology officer post, is intimately familiar with the role the CTO will play. He was a member of Obama's transition team, which helped craft the priorities for the CTO. He will have a stake in overseeing the $19 billion in the stimulus package aimed at encouraging the creation of electronic health records.
In an interview with Nextgov, Chopra said the health records initiative faces the biggest opposition from physicians. Estimates put the percentage of physicians who use electronic health records in their practices between 4 percent and 17 percent.
"Adoption is the major barrier," Chopra said. "My general view is the [stimulus package] will encourage physicians to move to the tipping point of saying, 'Maybe I will take the plunge.' But there is still risk the physician has to take.
"My guess is that President Obama views this money as a down payment, the initial component of an overall health reform goal that will include reform of our health payment system in general to pay for outcomes and quality. The secret will be watching closely Obama's health reform goals to see if quality is tied to payments. I have strong confidence in the discussion taking place."
During his run for president, Obama released a government reform agenda in September 2008 that outlined what the CTO would do, including meeting with agencies to make sure they were using the best technologies and best practices. "Like he has in the campaign, Obama will employ innovative technologies, including blogs, wikis, social networking tools and other new strategies, to modernize internal, cross-agency, and public communication and information sharing," according to the plan.
Sources said Chopra was interested in the CTO position within the Health and Human Services Department, where he could focus on IT as it pertained to health care, such as creating a national network of electronic health records. In the interview with Nextgov, he said health IT was "a labor of love" and that he spent his career in state government advancing the cause of using IT to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Chopra is a former managing director with the health care think tank The Advisory Board Co.
Nextgov has more on this story.
By KELLIE LUNNEY, Government Executive
President Obama on Saturday named a Washington-area entrepreneur and management consultant as the government's first chief performance officer.
Jeffrey Zients also will serve as deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, Obama said during his April 18 radio address. A multimillionaire who made his money as a management consultant, Zients currently runs Portfolio Logic, a firm that invests in business services and health care companies.
"Jeffrey will work to streamline processes, cut costs, and find best practices throughout our government," Obama said.
The president focused his address on government efficiency and accountability. He said he will ask department heads during their first full Cabinet meeting next week for specific proposals on cutting their budgets.
"Already, members of my Cabinet have begun to trim back unnecessary expenditures," Obama said, citing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Defense Secretary Robert Gates as examples.
Obama said that he plans to announce in the coming weeks the "elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective," adding that there will be "no sacred cows, and no pet projects."
The president also announced that Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's technology secretary, will serve as the government's chief technology officer and work closely with Vivek Kundra, the chief information officer.
Zients replaces Nancy Killefer as Obama's pick for the top federal management position. Killefer withdrew in February to avoid controversy over issues related to her personal income taxes.
Zients served as chief executive officer and chairman of the Washington-based Advisory Board Company -- where Chopra has also worked -- and as head of the Corporate Executive Board. The firms provide best practices and customized market research on health care and financial management. Zients also launched an unsuccessful bid with other Washington-area investors in 2005 to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team.
By ANDREW NOYES, CongressDaily
President Obama on Saturday announced the selection of Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra to serve as the nation's first chief technology officer, making good on a campaign promise to create the post that enthused Silicon Valley and high-tech policy watchers in Washington.
Chopra "will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities -- from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
He will work closely with Obama's chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency and lower costs.
Kundra was appointed CIO and administrator for e-government at OMB last month. The pair worked together before when Kundra served as Virginia's assistant secretary of commerce and technology.
Before joining Gov. Tim Kaine's cabinet, Chopra was a managing director at the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank.
The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a Tuesday vote to approve President Obama's choice of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS secretary, the Associated Press reported. She is expected to be confirmed despite concerns raised by anti-abortion-rights activists recently over campaign contributions she got from a Kansas physician who performs abortions and a flap over taxes. Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has endorsed her nomination.
By AMY HARDER
Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., urged a room full of Republican attorneys today to fight President Obama's judicial nominees -- but to stop short of the filibuster.
Speaking at a Republican National Lawyers Association conference at the National Press Club, Santorum insisted to a skeptical audience that filibustering judicial nominees would be counterproductive. Two questioners wondered why Republicans should show restraint after Democrats blocked several of President Bush's nominees. "We will lose every single filibuster attempt, even if it's the worst judge in the world. We don't have the votes," Santorum rejoined. "You don't pull out a gun if everyone in the room knows it's not loaded."
Santorum also predicted that a filibuster would cause dissent even within GOP ranks. "Half of the caucus will turn on you," Santorum said. "Democrats don't turn on other Democrats. Republicans do."
When NationalJournal.com caught up with Santorum after his speech, he said that the only way his party will be able to block any of Obama's nominees would be to wage massive campaigns against the most "egregious" ones to the point where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., decides not to bring the confirmation to a vote. Going against every single one of them will not work, he said. Would the former senator be involved in such campaigns himself? "Oh, I don't know," Santorum said with a laugh. "I like to light a lot of fires and then step out of the way."
One thing that the audience, Santorum and his fellow speaker, Wendy Long, could agree on was their concern about Obama's philosophy in making judicial nominations. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, expressed her alarm about a comment Obama made on the campaign trail indicating that he preferred judges who have "heart" and "empathy." "This is the first time in history that a president has put forth as his gold standard for judicial nominees the very definition of judicial activism," Long said.
Obama has made just three nominations so far. The first, David Hamilton, nominated to a 7th circuit Court of Appeals seat in mid-March, has already drawn conservative opposition. Hamilton is now awaiting a confirmation vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans on the committee, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., boycotted Hamilton's confirmation hearing on April 1, saying they didn't have enough time to prepare.
By AMY HARDER
On Tuesday, President Obama announced the nomination of Judith A. McHale as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs. McHale is the former president and CEO of Discovery Communications.
In February, NationalJournal.com spoke with James Glassman, McHale's predecessor. "What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker," Glassman said then. "That would be a huge mistake."
Now, more than two months later, NationalJournal.com was able to catch up with Glassman to get his initial response to the McHale nomination. First, Glassman said he was "thrilled that there is a nominee after nearly three months. It's an extremely important position. I'm sorry it took this long."
Glassman emphasized that he did not want to prejudge McHale. In February, he said his successor must have an "an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations." McHale has no substantial national security or foreign policy background, but Glassman was quick to point out that neither did he. He said the important thing is to make sure McHale takes the proper approach to her new job.
On his blog, Glassman wrote that McHale's record shows she "certainly has the drive and talent to do the job. The bigger issue is what she thinks the job is. We will soon find out."
Both in his interview with NJ.com and his blog comments, Glassman took issue with Foreign Policy's Marc Lynch, who argued in a blog post that McHale would be a "terrible, terrible selection." "While I like Marc a lot, I think that was kind of unfair," Glassman said. Lynch and others have pointed out that McHale has been a longtime friend and donor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. That fact alone should not discredit McHale, Glassman said. It's common for supporters of politicians to end up being brought into a new administration, and these people often serve admirably, he added.
Glassman has not met with his successor, but he said he would be more than happy to do so if approached. So, what advice does he have for McHale? "I would urge her to not simply talk to the people in the building," Glassman said. "She needs to understand how the office works within the State Department, but she should also get out and talk to the key players in the interagencies." He cited the Defense Department as the most crucial agency relationship.
After the jump, see McHale's full biography, per the White House.
Continue reading Glassman Weighs In On His Successor At State.
Dora Schriro was recently appointed to the new position of special adviser to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and detention and removal. Immigration detention is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in the U.S., and the issue will inevitably come up in the push for immigration reform from President Obama. After moving to Washington from Arizona, where she headed the Department of Corrections under Gov. Napolitano for six years, Schriro spoke to NationalJournal.com's Alina Selyukh about adapting to government at the federal level and working to improve the national detention system.
NJ: After being in Washington for about two months, how do you feel about the city?
Schriro: It's great to be here for cherry blossoms.... I've always been kind of a news junkie, so it's pretty exciting to be in a place where so much news comes from. People here are great. I'm very close to the airport because I'm on the road a lot.
NJ: Where do you travel?
Schriro: In these first 90, 120 days, I am actively involved in preliminary assessment for the secretary, so I've been hitting a number of facilities... speaking with as much of the detained population as I can, talking with staff.
NJ: So what will come out of these travels?
Schriro: It's a first assessment. That's why I'm calling it preliminary; it's not a one-time kind of a thing. It is to get a really good feel for the many strengths that are here at ICE.
NJ: When will we start seeing new policies from ICE?
Schriro: There have been some small but I think symbolically substantive changes already. For example, the whole of how we detain aliens has attracted considerable public and congressional attention -- as it should. Included in that is the health care that the population receives, and included in that is deaths in detention.Early in my tenure, at the beginning of March, there was an appropriation hearing... about deaths in detention. Within several weeks of that hearing, there was a death, apparently of natural causes -- we are still pending, of course, the autopsy to make that confirmation. That was an opportunity to make an immediate change... to make immediate notification to Congress, also to release a news advisory and to put that news advisory on our Web site. So it's faster and clearer transparency.
Continue reading DHS Immigration Adviser Faces Learning Curve.
By ANDREW NOYES, CongressDaily
The Obama administration's selection of a Patent and Trademark Office director cannot come soon enough, according to officials inside the agency. They cite serious cash-flow problems, internal cutbacks and a downturn in the number of applications filed and patents granted amid continued U.S. economic gloom. "We need a new director just as soon as we can get one," Patent Office Professional Association President Robert Budens said Monday.
While the administration and Commerce Department, which houses PTO, have been tight-lipped about the appointment, sources say Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is involved and an announcement could come in the next week or two. Oft-mentioned prospects for the job include Q. Todd Dickinson, who ran the office under former President Bill Clinton, Silicon Valley attorney Jim Pooley and IBM Vice President David Kappos.
During his March confirmation hearing, Locke vowed not to let urgent issues like the 2010 census crowd out topics like improving the patent office's productivity. The agency faces a backlog of more than 750,000 applications.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has filled several key posts in his department, including aides who will focus on nutrition programs and rural development. Vilsack appointed Janey Thornton, a former school nutrition director in Elizabethtown, Ky., as deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. FNS manages the food stamp, school meal and commodity distribution programs that spend about $80 billion per year, two thirds of the agency's $120 billion budget. Vilsack said Thornton, a former president of the School Nutrition Association, will provide policy direction for the FNS and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Thornton will report to the undersecretary for FNS, a position not yet filled by President Obama.
Vilsack also appointed Cheryl Cook, a former National Farmers Union official and deputy secretary in the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department, as deputy undersecretary for rural development. Cook will report to the undersecretary for rural development. Obama has nominated Dallas Tonsager, a Farm Credit Administration board member, to that post, but Tonsager has not had a Senate confirmation hearing. Vilsack also appointed Doug O'Brien, a former Senate Agriculture Committee counsel, as chief of staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. O'Brien has also served as an adviser to Iowa Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, and has been an assistant secretary in the Ohio Agriculture Department. The appointments were announced late Friday.
The 2010 census has been a source of controversy throughout the transition period, beginning in early February with President Obama's selection of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., to run the Commerce Department. The pick created a firestorm of protest (subscription) from minority groups who believed Gregg was unsupportive of efforts to adequately count their constituencies in the census -- leading the administration to announce it would wrest control of the Census Bureau from Commerce. This move created another angry backlash (subscription), this time from Republicans complaining that the White House was politicizing the census and making an unprecedented power play. When Gregg resigned on Feb. 12, he cited the census as one of the main reasons.
The storm seemed to die down when Gregg's replacement, former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, insisted to Congress that Commerce would retain control of the Census Bureau after all. But a new controversy has emerged over Obama's pick to head the bureau, Robert Groves, a statistics expert from the University of Michigan. This time, Republicans are concerned that Groves will introduce statistical sampling to the 2010 count -- a practice that he unsuccessfully advocated as a bureau official in the early 1990s.
Eliza Krigman has more on the Groves controversy, and the difficulties facing the bureau less than a year out from the census, in this week's National Journal (subscription).
By ROBERT BRODSKY, Government Executive
Bush administration political appointees at the Defense Department have until the end of the week to sign President Obama's ethics pledge, or they will be asked to resign, according to internal correspondence.
In an April 7 e-mail, Robert Rangel, special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, gave all Bush holdovers until the close of business on Friday to sign the agreement, which puts restrictions on post-government employment.
Politicos who refuse to comply will be required to leave their position by the end of April.
"Those who choose not to sign the ethics pledge and leave before April 30, 2009 (or those who choose to sign the pledge and are replaced after April 30, 2009), will be asked to submit their resignations, and the department will treat their separations as involuntary," Rangel wrote.
Continue reading DoD Gives Ethics Ultimatum To Bush Holdovers.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama today announced he will nominate Peter Rogoff, staff director of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, to lead the Federal Transit Administration. The expert on infrastructure budgeting and finance issues has served on the Senate Appropriations Committee for 22 years, the last 14 as staff director of the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee. He is a veteran of the last three surface transportation bills dating back to 1991.
If confirmed, Rogoff will join FTA as Congress gears up to renew the current transportation law, which expires Oct. 1. FTA provides more than $10 billion a year in financial assistance through formula and discretionary programs to support transportation across the country, according to the agency. Rogoff has had a key role in advising lawmakers on the operating and capital needs of Amtrak, including the initiation and financing of the high-speed Acela service, as well as on the financing of dozens of new light rail and bus rapid-transit systems.
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, NextGov
President Obama's pick to lead the General Services Administration is a strong choice with a solid information technology background, industry analysts said on Monday. But if confirmed, Martha Johnson will have her hands full managing the billions in stimulus funds set aside to renovate and upgrade federal buildings, they noted.
Obama announced Johnson's nomination on Friday evening. Johnson, currently vice president of culture at Computer Sciences Corp., an IT consulting firm in Falls Church, Va., would succeed Lurita A. Doan, who resigned last May as GSA administrator. Paul Prouty, a 38-year veteran of the agency, has been serving as acting administrator since late January and before that, Jim Williams and David Bibb held the interim position.
Doan said Johnson is well-prepared for the demanding job.
"President Obama is going to be especially dependent upon GSA to help implement his agenda -- to simultaneously modernize federal buildings, expand the fleet of federal autos and ramp up unprecedented levels of federal spending," Doan said.
Johnson is no stranger to GSA. She served as the agency's chief of staff from 1996 to 2001 under then-administrator David Barram, and she was co-chair of the Obama transition team that assessed the agency.
"She's a good person and a sound choice," said Larry Allen, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement. "It's always good to have somebody as administrator who doesn't need 'GSA 101.' "
By TOM SHOOP, NextGov
President Obama named Martha Johnson, a former chief of staff of the General Services Administration, to serve as administrator of the agency late Friday.
Johnson is currently the vice president of culture at Computer Sciences Corp., a position she has held since 2007. Prior to that, she was a vice president at SRA International, where she provided consulting services to such agencies as the Labor and Homeland Security departments.
Johnson served as chief of staff at GSA from 1996 to 2001, under then-administrator David Barram. Before that, she was assistant deputy secretary of the Commerce Department from 1993 to 1996. In the early months of the Clinton administration, Johnson served in the Office of Presidential Personnel.
Earlier this year, Johnson was a co-chair of the Obama transition team that assessed GSA operations after the election. Since then, she has been rumored to be a leading candidate for the administrator's job.
Paul Prouty, a 38-year GSA veteran, has been serving as acting administrator of the agency since late January.
Johnson's nomination must be approved by the Senate.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced today a series of staff appointments, led by Julianna Smoot, a national finance director of the Obama presidential campaign and co-chairwoman of the inaugural committee, as his chief of staff.
Other appointments include Peter Cowhey of the University of California at San Diego as his senior counselor; Tim Reif, chief international trade counsel at the House Ways and Means Committee, as general counsel; Lisa Garcia, who worked for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as assistant trade representative for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison and manager of the U.S. trade advisory system; Daniel Sepulveda, an aide to President Obama when he was senator, as assistant trade representative for congressional affairs; and Luis Jimenez, a legislative and trade adviser to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel when he was in the House, as deputy assistant trade representative for congressional affairs.
Kirk also named Carol Guthrie, the communications director for Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., as assistant trade representative for public and media affairs.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Citing concerns over the upcoming competition for the lucrative contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force, Alabama's two Republican senators are blocking the confirmation of Ashton Carter, the Obama administration's nominee to be the Pentagon's top weapons buyer.
A team led by Northrop Grumman and EADS, the European consortium behind Airbus, won the contract last year and planned to build the tankers in Alabama. But GAO upheld a protest filed by Boeing Co., the losing bidder, forcing the Pentagon to announce another competition for aircraft.
"It is of the utmost importance that the new tanker competition be conducted in an open and transparent manner based on a best value process," Sen. Richard Shelby said in a statement today. "Before the new request for proposals is issued, we should have every assurance from Dr. Carter that the Department of Defense will proceed fairly to ensure our warfighters receive the most capable tanker possible."
Sen. Jeff Sessions also issued a statement saying he has "unanswered questions" about Carter's commitment to holding a fair and open competition. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., whose panel voted Wednesday to back Carter's confirmation, postponed plans to have the Senate vote late Thursday after Shelby told him he wanted to speak with Carter about his concerns.
"He has made a commitment that he will do so as quickly as he possibly can after the recess so we can hopefully get to this nomination very promptly," Levin said of Shelby.
Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., has introduced legislation that would make President Obama's proposed "chief technology officer" a permanent executive branch position. National Journal's Tech Daily Dose has more on this story.
Despite months of speculation about potential candidates -- and about what the job would entail -- the post remains unfilled for now. In recent months, Lost In Transition has discussed the CTO position with Microsoft's Carolyn Brubaker, Web guru Vinton Cerf, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Finance Committee is not likely to consider the nomination of Kansas Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS secretary before for the two-week spring recess.
The committee typically does not take a vote on a nominee until questions senators submit in writing are answered.
Given that Sebelius went before the committee Thursday, it is unlikely she will answer all those questions by today, according to a Republican committee aide. Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, alone submitted 79 questions.
Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mt., had hoped to send her nomination to the full Senate for a vote before senators left town.
President Obama's first choice for HHS secretary, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., took himself out of the running in February amid tax problems. Sebelius has tax troubles as well, albeit on a much smaller scale, and they do not seem to be affecting her nomination.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama is tapping Robert Groves, a University of Michigan professor who has pushed the use of statistical sampling, to be the next Census Bureau director, the Associated Press reported. A Commerce Department official said the White House will make the announcement today.
Groves is an expert in survey methodology and statistics who served as an associate director of the Census Bureau from 1990-92. He and others recommended that the 1990 census be statistically adjusted to make up for an undercount, only to be overruled by then-Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, a Republican.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Following a confirmation hearing Wednesday on President Obama's nominees for three key posts at USDA, Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he will try to get the nominations through the Senate before Congress leaves this week for recess.
Harkin said he would ask the Senate to discharge the committee from voting on the nominations so he can take them straight to the Senate floor. He said Senate Agriculture ranking member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., has agreed to that approach.
The nominees are Kathleen Merrigan, a Tufts University professor and former aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to be deputy Agriculture secretary; James Miller, the chief of staff at the National Farmers Union and a former aide to Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., to be Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services; and Joe Leonard Jr., an aide to Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, to be Agriculture assistant secretary for civil rights.
The hearing went smoothly for the nominees, but Chambliss told Merrigan, the author of many academic articles, that he was concerned that "in promoting your passion for organic production and sustainable agriculture, you tear down other types of agriculture with different points of view."
Merrigan, who helped write the USDA organic program when she worked for Leahy, responded that she recognizes organic agriculture is only a "small slice of the pie, 2 to 3 percent" of U.S. agriculture.
Of her writings, Merrigan said, "I've always been a provocateur. That's part of my personality." But she added that when she was administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service in the Clinton administration, she worked on many conventional USDA agriculture programs, including milk marketing orders, check-offs and commodity purchases for feeding programs.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
At a confirmation hearing boycotted by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske made his pitch Wednesday to become the nation's drug czar, saying he would take a balanced, science-based approach to the job.
Kerlikowske pledged to help develop a strategy to address drug-related violence along the Mexican border.
President Obama last month nominated Kerlikowske, 59, as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he favors tough enforcement of anti-drug laws, but added that "punishment alone will not solve the problems of drugs and violence."
The panel's Republicans did not weigh in on the issue, though. They followed Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in boycotting the hearing to protest the "unreasonable pace" that Leahy is moving on President Obama's judicial nominations. The committee also considered the appointment of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton to the U.S. Court Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
By ANNA EDNEY, CongressDaily
Kansas Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday became the latest Obama administration Cabinet nominee to have tax problems come to light.
The HHS secretary nominee informed the Senate Finance Committee that she and her husband paid $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest for 2005, 2006 and 2007 taxes after a review by a certified public accountant found the errors. Sebelius characterized the discrepancies as "unintentional."
Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., stood behind Sebelius and called for quick action on her nomination.
"Congress is going to need a strong partner at the Department of Health and Human Services to achieve comprehensive health reform this year, and we have that partner in Gov. Sebelius," Baucus said in a statement. "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Gov. Sebelius has the political experience, determination, and bipartisan work ethic to get the job done with Congress this year."
Sebelius is set to appear before the Finance panel Thursday.
Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is waiting to make a decision on Sebelius, a spokeswoman said.
Continue reading Sebelius Discloses Tax Troubles Of Her Own.
By ANNA EDNEY, CongressDaily
Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas told senators today that overhauling the nation's health care system will be her main mission if confirmed as HHS secretary. "Inaction is not an option. The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable," Sebelius said, echoing President Obama.
Sebelius endured a fairly easy hearing today, volleying questions from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members. Questions ranged from government-run health care to the use of budget reconciliation to the reimportation of prescription drugs, most of which she artfully dodged. HELP ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., pressed Sebelius on whether she supports using reconciliation to pass a health care overhaul, comparing the fast-track budget process to "a declaration of war." Sebelius declined to give details, saying only Congress should be "involved and engaged in the process." When asked by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., about government-run health care, Sebelius said she opposes the concept but supports a "public option side-by-side with private insurers in some kind of exchange."
In light of recent salmonella outbreaks, including one announced Monday involving pistachios, Sebelius did not rule out handing FDA's food safety responsibilities to a new agency. Declaring it premature to discuss dividing the agency, she said, "However the FDA operates, we have to have a new platform for the safety of our food supply." She avoided the subject of reimportation, which would allow Americans to purchase cheaper drugs from other countries. While she would like to explore avenues to obtain high-quality, low-cost drugs, Sebelius said FDA first needs to restore its reputation.
Sebelius will face more questioning Thursday when she appears before the Senate Finance Committee. The HELP hearing today was a courtesy hearing, while the Finance Committee is tasked with approving Sebelius' nomination.
By ALYSSA ROSENBERG, Government Executive
Employee and industry groups have expressed support for Randy Babbitt, President Obama's choice to head the Federal Aviation Administration.
An aviation consultant and former head of the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), Babbitt has worked for unions and company management -- experience that has won him the trust of both employee groups and management organizations.
"The FAA needs a leader who is respected by all elements of the aviation industry and who understands the critical importance of front-line aviation workers," said Edward Wytkind, president of the transportation trades division of the AFL-CIO. "Randy Babbitt's nomination answers this call."
Babbitt began his career as a pilot for Eastern Airlines and later became chief executive officer of ALPA, before leaving to create his own consulting company. Babbitt is currently a partner at international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he specializes in advising airlines and workers' unions during restructurings and mergers.
His experience also includes working with FAA on a number of issues. During the George W. Bush administration, Babbitt served on the FAA Management Advisory Council, which helps the agency's administrator make decisions about policy, regulatory and budgetary issues. In addition, he was a member of a 2008 commission that examined how to foster a stronger culture of safety within FAA.
Former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, now president of the Aerospace Industries Association, said Babbitt's varied perspectives as a pilot, union leader and management consultant make him uniquely well-equipped to tackle the agency's significant challenges.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama will nominate former Mississippi Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus to be secretary of the Navy, a source in the state told the Associated Press today. Mabus, 60, would replace Donald Winter, a Bush administration holdover who agreed to remain in office through March 20.
As someone who campaigned extensively for Obama last year, Mabus had been mentioned as a candidate for secretary of Education. He served in the Navy from 1970-1972 as a surface warfare officer on the Newport, R.I.-based USS Little Rock. Before then, he was in the Naval ROTC while an undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi. Mabus was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992 and served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96 under President Clinton. From June 2006 to April 2007, Mabus was chairman and CEO of Foamex International Inc., and helped move the manufacturer of polyurethane foam products out of bankruptcy.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing next Thursday for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS secretary, the panel announced Thursday.
Sebelius, a Democrat who was President Obama's second choice for the post after former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., withdrew from consideration, is expected to face little opposition.
On Tuesday, Sebelius also will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in what is being billed as a courtesy hearing.
In other confirmation news, three top Justice Department division nominees won approval Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On a single voice vote, the committee approved former Federal Trade Commissioner Christine Varney to head the antitrust division, San Francisco attorney Tony West to lead the civil division and Lanny Breuer, a special counsel to former President Bill Clinton, as head of the criminal division.
By ALINA SELYUKH
Hailed as the first virtual town hall meeting from the White House, President Obama's Q&A this morning wasn't quite as unprecedented as some commentators have claimed. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both held interactive conversations with ordinary citizens over the Internet while in office, although neither did so in a live format.
On the presidential campaign trail last year, John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton also attempted to reach larger audiences through new technologies. McCain spoke over the phone in a conference call with supporters, which the Washington Post at the time hailed as "a novel, virtual town hall meeting." And Clinton answered pre-screened questions for an hour during a meeting that was live-streamed to her campaign Web site. In addition, MoveOn.org organized a virtual Q&A with all seven Democratic candidates during the primaries, giving the group's members a chance to ask questions.
But the politician best-known for opening the floor to (pre-screened) questions is current Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin," a TV and radio broadcast featuring Putin fielding queries from Russian citizens, has been held annually since 2002, even this past December after his second term as president ended. For more than three hours, Putin answered around 80 questions submitted via text messages, phone calls, Web submissions and political public consultation offices. They varied from economic issues to the Georgian crisis to the need for Christmas trees and his birthday presents.
By DARREN GOODE, CONGRESSDAILY
President Obama's pick for the No. 2 spot at EPA withdrew his nomination Wednesday on the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing amid a probe into a nonprofit foundation where he was previously on the board of directors.
Jon Cannon, a former senior EPA official and currently an environmental law professor at the University of Virginia, said in a statement that while he was not personally being investigated, the scrutiny surrounding the now-defunct America's Clean Water Foundation was a "distraction" to EPA.
Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., said committee staff questioned Cannon at a recent meeting regarding a February 2007 EPA inspector general report that said the foundation mismanaged at least $25 million in federal grants it was awarded between 1998 and 2003.
But he called Cannon's withdrawal "very surprising" and that he would have had Inhofe's backing if he had not withdrawn his nomination. "We told him we don't believe this would be anything that would hold you up," Dempsey said.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement that she is "disappointed" and that the administration "will move quickly to identify a new candidate."
The EPA IG report said the foundation had not complied with federal grant regulations. It also violated conflict-of-interest rules by giving a $50,000 contract to the Grizzle Company, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm run by Charles Grizzle, who was vice president of the foundation's board of directors at the time.
Cannon held a variety of positions at EPA under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, eventually rising to become the agency's general counsel under Clinton.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as Commerce secretary. The voice vote makes Locke, 59, the 15th member of President Obama's Cabinet and leaves only HHS Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius remaining to be confirmed.
Locke, a Democrat, was the nation's first Chinese-American governor. He was Obama's third pick to run the Commerce Department, after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., withdrew from consideration.
By THERESA POULSON
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. (Credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
When the Obama administration backed down from a controversial veterans health care proposal in the face of widespread opposition, it got a taste of the difficulties it will face finding money to act on the president's many campaign promises -- especially in expensive and politically loaded areas like health care and taking care of veterans.
President Obama's budget outline for Veterans Affairs would increase the department's budget significantly, but it also called for billing veterans' private insurance providers for the treatment of some battle-related injuries. The proposal would have saved about $540 million, less than 1 percent of the department budget.
When the proposal came to light, veterans' advocates were quick to express opposition, and dozens of lawmakers from both sides of aisle were vocal in their disapproval. The administration quickly changed course.
"This was one of the largest increases for VA by an administration, and that all got lost in the message because of that proposal," said Joseph A. Violante, national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. "It's the government's responsibility, not my insurance company's responsibility, to care for those disabilities that resulted from my honorable service in the military."
While the third-party billing plan wasn't a direct reneging of Obama's promise to expand benefits to more veterans, it brings to light the difficulties of finding ways to trim the budget in order to make funds available for new initiatives, such as bringing additional veterans into the VA network.
The proposal "wasn't an attempt to swindle veterans," said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. "The money saved would have been kept at VA, but I think that this was a bad idea and it looked particularly bad."
Though the plan would have meant savings for the department, the cost of care would have been passed along to others, Violante said. "If you look at a severely disabled veteran, somebody who might be missing limbs or has traumatic brain injury or needs a lot of care ... their insurance company is not going to pay those additional costs without passing them on to somebody, whether it's the veteran themselves -- increasing their premiums -- or spreading that increase among all policy holders."
Updated at 9:38 a.m. on March 25.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama announced Monday that he will nominate Neal Wolin to be deputy secretary at the Treasury Department and Lael Brainard to be Treasury undersecretary for international affairs.
The White House said it will keep Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in that position. The appointments, if confirmed by the Senate, will fill three of the four most senior positions beneath Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Wolin is a former general counsel at Treasury in the Clinton administration, and briefly served in the White House as deputy counsel to Obama on economic issues.
Brainard is vice president and founder of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.
By TOM SHOOP, Government Executive
The White House announced Monday that G. Edward DeSeve, a former high-ranking management official in the Clinton administration, would coordinate efforts at the Office of Management and Budget to implement the recently enacted economic stimulus package.
In his new position, DeSeve will serve as a special adviser to President Obama and assistant to Vice President Joe Biden. He will focus on managing interagency efforts to address provisions of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That work, the White House said, would complement oversight efforts led by Earl Devaney, head of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board.
DeSeve currently is a senior lecturer at the Fels Institute for Government of the University of Pennsylvania. He was deputy director for management at OMB during the latter part of President Clinton's term in office. During DeSeve's tenure, he was a key player in coordinating the federal response to the Y2K computer issue.
Before serving at OMB, DeSeve was the chief financial officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1994. Prior to that, he worked in the financial services industry in the private sector. DeSeve also has worked for the city of Philadelphia and as a special assistant to Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey.
By KIRK VICTOR
(Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Obama's nomination of Christopher Hill to be ambassador to Iraq has prompted fierce criticism from a handful of senior Republican senators in what is likely a prelude to a bruising battle on the Senate floor. Critics including Sen. Sam Brownback charge that Hill, a career diplomat, misled Congress in testimony last year when he was handling the six-party talks dealing with North Korean nuclear disarmament.
Brownback charges that Hill failed to follow through on his promise to confront North Korea on its human rights record. The Kansas Republican, joined by four other GOP senators -- Christopher (Kit) Bond of Missouri, John Ensign of Nevada, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona -- recently urged the president to withdraw the nomination not only because of what they see as Hill's misleading testimony but also because of his inexperience in dealing with Iraq. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, last year's Republican presidential nominee, also opposes the nomination.
Obama and Senate Democratic leaders counter that as a seasoned diplomat, Hill is well-suited for this key post. Hill also has won a key endorsement from Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, who said that Hill had "demonstrated extraordinary diplomatic and managerial skills in dealing with an isolated and inscrutable North Korean regime." Lugar's panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination Wednesday.
Brownback adamantly disagrees with Lugar. Last year, the Kansan even held up President Bush's nominee to South Korea until Hill agreed to take steps to make North Korea's human rights record part of the negotiations. But the senator says that Hill went back on his word. In an interview with National Journal last week, Brownback discussed his determination to do everything he can to kill the nomination. Edited excerpts follow.
NJ: What do you intend to do when Christopher Hill's nomination to be ambassador to Iraq reaches the Senate floor?
Brownback: We are going to fight hard against Chris. I met with him [on March 18] in my office and he did not allay any of my concerns. When he was conducting six-party talks, I asked him to involve the special envoy for human rights. He didn't want to do it. So I held up an ambassadorial nominee to South Korea. The State Department really wanted that ambassadorial nominee.Finally [former Virginia GOP Senator] John Warner brokered a deal in the Armed Services Committee where Chris Hill was testifying and Warner had me ask questions. One of them was, "Will you invite the special envoy for human rights to the six-party talks?" He said yes, he would. That didn't happen. On his word of doing that, in front of open committee, I lifted my hold on the South Korea ambassador. So he misled me.
NJ: So he lied?
Brownback: He did not do what he said he would do. It was very direct, it was very clear. And it did not happen.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
David Blumenthal, a former Harvard Medical School professor who has advised Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, is President Obama's choice to lead health information technology efforts in the new administration. Blumenthal, a physician who was a senior adviser to Obama's presidential campaign last year, will become the national coordinator for health information technology at HHS. He will play a key role in determining how to spend $19 billion devoted to medical technology in the recently enacted economic stimulus bill. Blumenthal most recently has been director of the Institute for Health Policy at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System.
By ALINA SELYUKH
Just a few days after President Obama lifted the Bush-era restrictions on human stem cell research, a slew of state lawmakers executed their own reversals, taking steps to reinstate limitations on stem cell research in their states.
The Mississippi House passed an appropriations bill on March 12 allocating funds to the University of Mississippi Medical Center with a caveat that the center not use the money "for research that kills or destroys an existing human embryo."
That same week, the Oklahoma House passed H.B.1326, making it a misdemeanor to destroy, injure, kill or transfer human embryos for research purposes and prohibiting financial support for any state agency engaged in those activities. The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Mike Reynolds, called Obama's actions an "infringement of several states' rights," including "the right to protect lives."
"I absolutely believe that if the federal government messes things up, states have a right to straighten it out," Reynolds told Reuters.
Anthony Gregory, research analyst with California-based nonprofit Independent Institute, agreed that the government "can put out a mandate and tell people what to do, but there are limitations." According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, states have allowed themselves wide latitude in setting research rules: "Approaches to stem cell research policy range from statutes... which encourage embryonic stem cell research, to South Dakota's law, which strictly forbids research on embryos regardless of the source."
"This is really a small number of disapproving parties trying to challenge something that other states may not be interested in" challenging, argued Michael Bird, NCSL's federal affairs counsel. To impact federal policy, states' defiance usually has to be more widespread than just a few instances, Bird said, and so far state efforts to impose new stem cell restrictions were still fairly limited. "It seems the president thinks he's got public opinion on his side," Bird said.
By DAVID HERBERT
The White House has sought to paint David F. Hamilton, President Obama's first judicial pick, as a moderate with bipartisan support. (Bloomberg News) True enough, Indiana Sens. Richard Lugar (R) and Evan Bayh (D) have both issued statements supporting the Indiana district judge's nomination. But Hamilton served as Bayh's counsel when he was Indiana governor, and Lugar and the nominee have the Hoosier connection. (New York Times)
At least one GOP senator is less sure about the pick: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is "troubled by Hamilton's ruling against a sectarian prayer to open the Indiana House of Representatives." (AP)
So is Hamilton a bipartisan pick? The night-and-day responses from judicial watchdogs haven't provided much insight. Depending on who you believe, he's either the second coming of King Solomon or the first in a gloomy series of left-wing activists.
Kathryn Kolbert, president of the liberal People for the American Way, called Hamilton "an extraordinarily good judge" and "an excellent first choice." (Bloomberg News) The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, meanwhile, sees "an ultra-liberal" and highlights his work passing the hat for ACORN for one month after college and his work on the board of the ACLU. (Washington Post)
Even the American Bar Association's support doesn't come without a historical asterisk. The association recently tagged the judge "well-qualified," its highest rating. Nothing wrong there, right? It's an improvement from 1994, when President Clinton tapped Hamilton for the federal post he now holds; then, the ABA said he was unqualified, explaining that he lacked sufficient trial experience and years practicing. (Indianapolis Star)
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved President Obama's choice for Commerce secretary, former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, in a vote off the Senate floor this morning. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., announced during Locke's confirmation hearing Wednesday that he intended to move quickly to clear the nomination and hoped to have the full Senate vote soon. A leadership aide said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would work with Republicans on an agreement for a vote but did not indicate a timeline.
By GREGG SANGILLO
(Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images)
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., announced on Wednesday that she was leaving her House seat to accept the Obama administration's nomination as undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department.
This could be an interesting choice for several reasons. The position was filled by an acting head, John Rood, from mid-2007 through the end of George W. Bush's term. Rood, who was a former NSC staffer and aide to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., was never confirmed by the Senate; an undersecretary who has gone through the full confirmation process will bring more muscle to the position. And the nomination of a member of Congress would signal the Obama administration's commitment to pledges he made on the campaign trail to pursue nonproliferation.
It could also be a highly influential post in government. It was the launching pad for the controversial conservative John Bolton, who took the lead on arms control issues in the job and became an outspoken hawk on Iran and North Korea.
Tauscher has a reputation as someone with knowledge of the nuclear arsenal and nonproliferation issues, and the Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons laboratory sits in her district. Tauscher pushed legislation to fund nuclear weapons dismantlement, and she's also led House opposition to funding controversial Energy Department research programs into smaller "bunker busting" nuclear weapons.
On general national security matters, she's somewhat hawkish, but has at times walked a tight rope. She voted for the 2002 resolution to wage war against Iraq. In May 2007, she voted for a failed amendment by Rob Andrews, D-N.J., that would have prevented Iraq and Afghanistan war funding to be expanded into any operation against Iran. But she switched sides and voted against a more sweeping amendment by Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio that stated no previous law authorized military action against Iran.
Commerce Secretary-designate Gary Locke today affirmed that the yet-unnamed Census Bureau director will report directly to him, answering after being pressed by Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
House Republicans have been vociferous opponents of an initial Obama administration announcement, made when Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., was its choice to head the Commerce Department, that the Census Bureau director would report to the White House. Gregg eventually withdrew his nomination amid the census controversy.
Addressing GOP fears that the apportionment of federal resources and congressional redistricting -- determined by the decennial census -- would be influenced by a politicized inflation of minority and hard-to-reach populations, Locke vowed that the bureau will use an actual head count for apportionment and has "no plans to use any kind of statistical sampling with respect to population count."
For more on the hearing, read CongressDailyPM (subscription).
Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, is threatening to hold up the nomination of the Interior Department's second-in-command to get more answers on why the Obama administration canceled oil and gas leases in his state.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved the nomination of David Hayes to be deputy Interior secretary, 17-5. Bennett afterward said he will put a hold on the nomination until he sits down with Hayes and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about those leases. "We've been trying to get an appointment with them; I think maybe now they'll give us one," Bennett said after the vote. An Interior spokesman said Salazar and Hayes "are looking forward to talking to Senator Bennett about his concerns."
For more on this story, read CongressDailyPM (subscription).
The Senate confirmed former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be U.S. Trade Representative today, 92-5, winning over a reluctant Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other Republicans concerned about mixed signals from the Obama administration on trade. "Mr. Kirk has been less than forthcoming on a number of trade issues that affect this country, and some of the positions that he has articulated are very dangerous for this nation's future," McCain said in a floor speech, before concluding that he would vote to confirm Kirk regardless.
For more on this story, see CongressDailyPM (subscription).
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama's new computer chief, just restored from a forced leave after an FBI raid at his old office, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in 1996 when he was 21 years old.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro refused to say what Vivek Kundra, now 34, stole or whether the administration knew of Kundra's guilty plea before announcing his appointment, but he dismissed the old charge against him as a "youthful indiscretion."
Court records show that Kundra pleaded guilty to theft of less than $300 on Aug. 27, 1996, in Rockville, Md. He was sentenced to supervised probation, community service and a small fine. A case file describing the offense could not be found.
"Vivek committed a youthful indiscretion," Shapiro said. "He performed community service, and we are satisfied that he fully resolved the matter."
Obama appointed Kundra March 5 to the White House post of chief federal information officer in charge of purchases of computers and other information technology.
A week later, the FBI raided the District of Columbia technology office, which Kundra had led until recently. Agents arrested a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, and Kundra was put on leave from his White House post until further details became known, but was reinstated Tuesday.
"Mr. Kundra has been informed that he is neither a subject nor a target of the investigation and has been reinstated," Shapiro said.
By BRIAN FRIEL
Defense contractors enjoyed robust growth in business over the past decade as both the Clinton and Bush Pentagons converted tens of thousands of jobs from government employees to contractor personnel.
But as the Obama administration looks for ways to reduce growth in the defense budget, the Pentagon is eyeing those contractor jobs as targets. At a House Budget Committee hearing this morning, Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., asked the Pentagon's top accountant why the defense budget has grown so much faster than inflation over the past decade.
Robert Hale, the Defense Department comptroller, told Spratt that those outsourced contractor jobs have ended up being more expensive than government workers. Now the Pentagon is looking at bringing some of those contractor jobs back in-house, Hale said. We "need to look carefully at how many contractors we're using," Hale said.
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to cut all federal contractor spending by at least 10 percent and end the abuse of no-bid contracts.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Senate Agriculture Committee late Monday unanimously approved President Obama's appointment of Gary Gensler as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The nomination now goes to the full Senate.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, had initially expressed concerns about Gensler's nomination because he had supported less regulation when he worked at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration while the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 was in development. The law exempted derivatives from regulation.
At his confirmation hearing Gensler said he had come to believe that stronger regulation is needed.
By AMY HARDER
A panel discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center on Monday offered the Obama administration warnings and advice for navigating the forthcoming judicial nominations that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is hoping the president will send to his committee before lawmakers' spring recess early next month.
James Flug, who worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as counsel and later as chief counsel, has experienced the intricacies of judicial nominations from the staff level. Flug advises President Obama to "lay out what his principles of selection are in a way that's clear and simple and honest and that reflects these values and the values he wants to see an an appellate judge. There's a real opportunity for leadership," said Flug.
He cautioned, however, that Senate Republicans' recent threat to filibuster the president's choices before they've even been laid out suggests that the GOP is "not in good faith." Sarah Binder, George Washington professor and Brookings Institute senior fellow, reiterated that caution, saying the unified control Democrats enjoy in both houses of Congress is "not magic or a silver bullet" when it comes to confirming judicial nominees. She predicted that many judges appointed during Jimmy Carter's administration, who did not want to retire while a Republican was in office, could likely choose to now.
Obama should find a way to inform his millions of followers, mostly amassed during the campaign, about judicial nominations, Flug said. Emphasizing that people don't understand the process and issues as well as they should, Flug said that if Obama "can give a very clear and candid and understandable version of what he's looking for in a judge, the public will become a part of the process."
The panelists often referenced the divergent confirmation processes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both nominated by George W. Bush in his second term. While the former was rather clean and simple, the panelists agreed, the latter created unwelcome controversy. A nomination of this level isn't as imminent as those at the lower-level federal courts, but it is expected that at least one -- possibly up to three -- Supreme Court justices will retire during Obama's term. Considering how technology has evolved, especially in terms of e-mail and electronic document retrieval, Flug said confirmation could become a much more time-consuming process that delves deeply into the nominee's past life. Sometimes too much so, he added.
New York Times Washington correspondent David Kirkpatrick, who has covered Supreme Court and executive branch nominations, said that the structure of a judicial confirmation by way of the Senate creates an "atmosphere of a treasure hunt," almost as if lawmakers are searching for a piece of information about nominees before the news media gets to it. "It is a bizarre experience to be a part of it," Kirkpatrick said.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., hopes his committee will receive the first batch of judicial nominees from the Obama administration before lawmakers begin the spring recess early next month. He said today he wants to have hearings soon after members return and has urged the White House to work quickly to finalize nominations.
Confirmations are likely to be difficult after 41 Senate Republicans wrote to President Obama this month threatening to filibuster if they do not agree with his choices. They described selecting judges as a "shared constitutional responsibility" and recommended that Obama renominate three of former President George W. Bush's failed nominees: Peter Keisler, Glen Conrad and Paul Diamond.
If Obama and Senate Democrats do not get GOP senators' blessing for the nominees in their home states, "the Republican Conference will be unable to support moving forward on that nominee," the letter said.
By MEGAN SCULLY
President Obama on Saturday nominated Margaret Hamburg, former New York City health commissioner, to head the FDA, and announced he is taking new measures to address food safety.
During his weekly radio address, Obama said a lack of funds and staff at FDA in recent years have left the agency with only enough resources to inspect just 7,000 of 150,000 food processing plants and warehouses annually.
"That means roughly 95 percent of them go uninspected," Obama said. "That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable."
Obama said he will request $1 billion to strengthen the food safety system and modernize labs. A portion of that funding will go toward increasing the number of food inspectors, he said.
Besides nominating Hamburg, whose selection had been leaked earlier this week, Obama named Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, as FDA's principal deputy commissioner, the agency's second in command.
Both Hamburg and Sharfstein are Harvard Medical School graduates, with Hamburg widely regarded as an expert in food safety, infectious diseases and bio-terrorism. Sharfstein is a former aide to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on health issues. He also evaluated the FDA for the Obama transition team and had been a candidate for FDA commissioner. While Hamburg's nomination will require Senate confirmation, Sharfstein will be able to start work immediately.
In his radio address, Obama also announced the creation of a Food Safety Working Group.
"This working group will bring together cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise me on how we can upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century, foster coordination throughout government, and ensure that we are not just designing laws that will keep the American people safe, but enforcing them," he said.
By AMY HARDER
Do President Obama's White House "czars" have too much power? Should they face Senate confirmation? These concerns have been raised by a growing number of observers as the president's team of czars continues to expand.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., sent a letter to Obama on Feb. 23, cautioning that "the rapid and easy accumulation of power by the White House staff can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances." He urged the president to limit the power of these high-level White House officials who are not cleared by Congress.
In the Washington Post this week, Yale law and political science professor Bruce Ackerman went a step further, arguing that czars should in fact undergo Senate confirmation. Ackerman noted that if Tom Daschle had been appointed only to the health czar post and not as Health and Human Services secretary, his tax problems might never have surfaced and he would be well on his way to leading the charge for health care reform. Furthermore, Ackerman wrote, while HHS Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius goes through Senate confirmation, her White House counterpart, Nancy-Ann DeParle, will "escape scrutiny" despite the fact that "DeParle will also play a commanding role in health care reform, and her record is less well known than that of Sebelius."
In an interview with Lost In Transition, Ackerman reiterated his concerns. "The idea of appointing a large number of czars -- loyalists to the president -- is like a king's courtship," he said. "They're highly intelligent, and they're 100 percent loyal to the president, and [he] never has to justify their selection to anybody else."
Ackerman emphasized that no particular Obama appointment compelled him to write the piece. But he said that this president's increased use of czars, coupled with former Vice President Dick Cheney's powerful "policy czar" role in the Bush administration, indicate a disturbing trend in the executive branch. "The creation of this hyper-politicized staff in the White House is both an example and a caution about the uses and abuses of the president's power," Ackerman said.
On the other hand, Ackerman also acknowledged that the Senate confirmation process itself is "self-indulgent" and convoluted. "The Senate has to get much more serious and professional about this," he said. "It's horrible to have a government for six months that simply has most high-policy positions vacant. It's just unacceptable." Next week, the Woodrow Wilson Center will be hosting a panel discussion on possible reform of the confirmation process. Check back with Lost In Transition next week for more on this subject.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama's new computer chief, Vivek Kundra, is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said.
The charges were lodged against the two men at a federal court hearing as the FBI finished searching the city's technology office, which was led until recently by Kundra.
Kundra is on leave from his White House job until further details of the case become known, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the court hearing, Yusuf Acar, the acting chief security officer in the city's technology office, was ordered held without bond pending a hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors said $70,000 in cash was found during a search of Acar's Washington home and that he posed a flight risk.
Technology consultant Sushil Bansal of Dunn Loring, Va., was released but was ordered not to conduct overseas financial transactions or leave the area. Bansal is due back in court on April 21, and prosecutors said they hoped a plea agreement could be reached in his case.
Acar worked under Kundra, Obama's choice to coordinate federal computer systems. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say whether the White House knew the investigation was under way when it named Kundra last week.
Mafara Hobson, a spokeswoman for Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, said she was very confident Kundra is not a target of the investigation.
NextGov's Gautham Nagesh has more on the raid and on Kundra's possible future in the administration here.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
At least three Republican senators have said that President Obama should reconsider his choice for the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq, dimming the chances that veteran diplomat Christopher Hill could be confirmed.
Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sam Brownback of Kansas said they were disappointed with Hill's appointment, announced Wednesday by the White House. All three senators cited a lack of experience in the Middle East to explain their opposition to Hill.
During the Bush administration, Hill led nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea. While considered a seasoned negotiator, Hill was regarded by many Republicans as too willing to make concessions to try to prod Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
If confirmed, Hill would replace Ryan Crocker as America's top diplomat in Baghdad.
By WINTER CASEY
Increasing violence in Mexico means President Obama's pick for drug czar, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, must add fighting the cartels and helping to secure the border to an already lengthy list of challenges. A report about trends in national security made last year by the United States Joint Forces Command said "an unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of immense proportions" and listed the country alongside Pakistan as risking "rapid and sudden collapse."
Vice President Joe Biden, who helped create the drug czar position in the '80s, on Wednesday described the challenges facing the drug czar as "daunting" at a press conference announcing the selection. "Nowhere is that more true than in the southwest border today," he said. "Since the beginning of last year there have been nearly 7,000 drug-related murders in Mexico.... Violent drug trafficking organizations are threatening both the United States and Mexican communities."
Biden described Kerlikowske's role as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy as central in developing a southwest border strategy that uses new technologies and information sharing. The czar can also support Mexican efforts by reducing drug use in the United States, said John Carnevale, who has served three administrations and four heads of the ONDCP. "Mexico needs our help and support in the short run from law enforcement," he said via e-mail. "The long-run solution is to reduce U.S. demand."
Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, called it highly unlikely that Mexico would become a failed state, but he sees three possible scenarios unfolding. The Mexican government could capture enough of the criminal leadership to win by seriously weakening the cartels. Or the status quo could continue as "cartels, through intimidation and violence, regain power in certain areas in the country and there is kind of a continued standoff." The worst possibility according to Sterling would be if Mexican President Felipe Calderon gets cold feet, declares victory and ends the fight so "the cartels resume their operations unmolested."
Critics worry Obama's decision not to include the drug czar at the Cabinet level will hamstring efforts. During a press briefing at the White House Wednesday, a journalist questioned whether now was a good time "to demote the drug czar out of the Cabinet-level position when there's a rather active shooting drug war going on in Mexico." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded by saying the president "wouldn't be nominating somebody that didn't have full and complete access to him."
Continue reading Mexico Violence Just One Of Many Challenges Facing New Drug Czar.
The FBI has arrested an employee of the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer along with a private contractor in a federal bribery sting, according to AP and Washington's WTOP radio. Vivek Kundra recently left his position as head of that office to work as chief information officer in the Obama administration but has not been linked to the ongoing investigation.
WTOP is reporting that the office's acting chief security officer, Yusuf Acar, and Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. President Sushil Bansal have been arrested and that the FBI has searched two floors of the downtown D.C. office building, but few details have been forthcoming. In initial accounts, the FBI, the White House, the office of Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office have all refused to comment.
The news that Kundra was not a target of the raid produced some relief in tech quarters. Kundra has generated excitement for his plans to improve outdated federal IT systems and set up a site called data.gov to make available more of the government's vast stores of data.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Lawmakers from agrarian districts want President Obama to open a White House Office of Rural Policy as a counterpart to the Office of Urban Affairs he established last month. Members of the Congressional Rural Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Travis Childers, D-Miss., and Adrian Smith, R-Neb., sent Obama a letter Tuesday making the proposal. "Just like urban areas, rural congressional districts face challenges unique to their communities," said Childers. "... An Office of Rural Policy would help create a closer working relationship between rural and urban interests, and foster policies that benefit both communities."
CongressDaily subscribers can read the entire report here.
By PETER COHN, CongressDaily
The Senate Finance Committee will vote Thursday on the nomination of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be U.S. Trade Representative, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced today.
Kirk appeared before the panel in a rapid-fire hearing Monday evening that was cut short due to votes on amendments to the FY09 omnibus appropriations bill. There appear to be no impediments to his confirmation, although the hearing Monday was sparsely attended. There was little reference to Kirk's tax troubles, which include nearly $10,000 in underpayments uncovered by Finance investigators.
Across the Capitol, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., held an organizational meeting for the 111th Congress, outlining a broad agenda ranging from a hearing on the trade aspects of climate change March 24 to renewal of expiring trade preferences programs granting numerous developing nations duty-free access to U.S. markets.
Levin said he was heartened by Kirk's testimony Monday, which signaled a shift away from negotiating new trade agreements and toward enforcement of existing ones. He said he hopes to move trade enforcement legislation that he introduced with Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., in January "expeditiously," but said the bill could be revamped in talks with Kirk and the Obama administration.
The complete story is available to CongressDaily subscribers.
By ANNA EDNEY and GEORGE E. CONDON JR., CongressDaily
(Credit: Rick Bloom/National Journal)
Leading lawmakers pushing to overturn the funding restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research today called on Congress to move quickly to pass their legislation to lock federal support into law as President Obama lifted those restrictions through executive order.
Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Michael Castle, R-Del., proposed the measure, which Harkin and Specter plan to reintroduce today. Harkin and Specter serve as the chairman and ranking member on the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee that handles the NIH budget.
Obama's decision leaves to Congress to decide whether taxpayer dollars will fund the controversial science that many expect holds cures for numerous debilitating diseases. "We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research," Obama said, adding that his signature would ensure "that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."
The complete story is available to CongressDaily subscribers.
By ALINA SELYUKH
(Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday hailed "a fresh start" in U.S. relations with Russia after a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Coming on the heels of revelations about President Obama's early overtures to President Dmitry Medvedev, last week's meeting is part of a larger push by the White House to reset a relationship that has deteriorated over the past eight years.
It's a change many say is long overdue. "The war in Georgia made clear that U.S. policy toward Russia requires a fundamental reassessment and a new direction," wrote Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Andrew Kuchins, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a joint March 2009 Russia Policy Brief. Both experts call the current conditions "a new post-Soviet nadir," the lowest point since the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1986. They attributed the cooling in large part to the Bush administration's lack of a clear policy on Russia.
Friday's meeting didn't yield any immediate progress on sore subjects like missile defense or Kosovo, but the change in approach from the previous adminsitration was apparent. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice struck a harsher tone on her way to meeting Lavrov for the first time in early 2005, urging Russia to "make clear to the world" its commitment to "the basics of democracy," specifically the independent judiciary, strong rule of law and free press.
In a press conference after his meeting with Clinton, Lavrov cited "open and friendly atmosphere" of the talks, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. Another Russian agency, RIA Novosti, reported his plea that the two countries continue to partner in the "fight against global challenges and threats, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism."
Lavrov has characterized the talks as an important step in laying the groundwork for when Obama and Medvedev meet at the G20 summit in early April. Clinton, for her part, told BBC News that NATO's agreement to resume talks with Russia, especially about the coalition's mission in Afghanistan, proved a willingness to shift its attitude towards a former enemy. That message was similar to the one sent by Vice President Joe Biden at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he said it was time for the U.S. and Russia "to revisit the many areas where we can and should work together."
In the meantime, a recent Atlantic Council poll showed that Europeans are more optimistic about a possible warning than Americans themselves are. While the Europeans' opinion on the potential improvement was almost split, more than 68 percent of Americans expected the effort to "prove largely futile."
By WINTER CASEY
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar welcomed yet another "czar" to the Obama administration today. As the "recovery czar" for the Department of the Interior, Chris Henderson will oversee more than $3 billion the department plans to invest in communities, parks, and public lands.
Henderson, who has been named senior adviser to the secretary for economic recovery, has served as the chief operating officer for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper since 2006 and also has experience in private equity investing.
National Journal reported in February about the multitude of czars Obama has named or promised to name in his administration. Still yet to be filled are the congressionally created White House position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator, or "IP czar," and the long-promised tech czar post. Obama reportedly has selected Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be the nation's next drug czar and Melissa Hathaway may become the next cybersecurity czar.
By GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE STAFF
President Obama today named Vivek Kundra to serve as federal chief information officer at the White House, a newly created position.
As CIO, Obama said, Kundra would work closely with a still-to-be-named chief technology officer to implement the administration's technology agenda. The president added that Kundra "will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open and efficient way possible."
The federal CIO, according to a White House announcement, "directs the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments and is responsible for oversight of federal technology spending." That includes establishing and overseeing an enterprise architecture for federal systems.
Kundra has been rumored to be a candidate both for the CTO job and to be administrator for e-government and information technology in the Office of Management and Budget. He had been serving as chief technology officer for the District of Columbia, where he was responsible for managing technology operations at 86 city agencies.
BY CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The White House is quietly assembling a list of two -- and potentially three -- more candidates for the FCC now that President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he wants his chief technology adviser and close confidante Julius Genachowski as chairman. Mignon Clyburn, a state regulator and daughter of House Majority Whip James Clyburn, is a leading contender for Democratic commissioner. The younger Clyburn, who has served on the Public Service Commission of South Carolina for more than a decade, declined to comment.
She would replace Jonathan Adelstein, who is under serious consideration to run the Rural Utilities Service, an Agriculture Department division that issues loans and grants for telecom, energy and water treatment projects. The RUS is set to receive $2.5 billion in loans from the economic stimulus package to promote broadband deployment. Adelstein, whose term expired in June but can remain through 2009 pending renomination, would exit when a successor is confirmed. Sources said the administration doesn't plan to renew his term. CongressDaily' subscribers can read the full story.
By AMY HARDER
Updated at 3:05 p.m.
President Obama today announced the nomination of Craig Fugate as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fugate is currently the director of the Florida division of Emergency Management. Before being appointed to this post in 2001 by then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Fugate had a 15-year career in local government as a firefighter, paramedic and emergency manager for Alachua County, Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) reappointed Fugate in December 2006.
Fugate will join Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at an event Thursday in New Orleans. DHS also announced today that Napolitano has appointed Jason McNamara as FEMA chief of staff. McNamara is currently director of emergency management at Dewberry, a consulting firm based in Arlington, Va.
If confirmed, Fugate will face the task of overseeing an agency widely criticized for its handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which has spurred a debate over whether FEMA should become a stand-alone agency again, as it was before DHS was formed. DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner argued against removing FEMA from DHS in a February report, as did a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies panel.
President Obama announced today his nominees for two positions: John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management and Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Berry, who worked in the Clinton administration's Treasury Department, is currently the director of the National Zoo and served previously as director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. If confirmed, Berry will replace Kathie Ann Whipple, who has been serving as acting director since January.
Genachowski is co-founder and managing director of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, both technology investment firms based in Washington. He has also held a host of federal positions, including advising lawmakers on legal and technology issues and serving as a law clerk for judges such as Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.
In a conversation with NationalJournal.com this January, President Bush's FCC director, Kevin Martin, offered advice for his successor at the agency.
Read their complete bios, per the White House, after the jump.
By AMY HARDER
(Credit: Rick Bloom/National Journal)
President Obama today announced his nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) as secretary of Health and Human Services, filling a vacancy that opened up almost a month ago when Tom Daschle pulled out amid revelations that he had failed to pay his back taxes.
Obama also named Nancy-Ann DeParle, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration during the Clinton administration, as his choice to lead the newly minted Office of Health Reform. Since leaving HCFA in 2000, DeParle has been serving on corporate boards and working at a New York private equity firm, Harvard University and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Obama touted Sebelius' willingness to work across the aisle and DeParle's extensive experience on health care regulatory issues. Sebelius has "bridged the partisan divide and worked a Republican legislature to get things done for the people of Kansas," the president said at a White House press conference. She "knows health care inside and out."
"Kathleen and Nancy share my resolve," the president said. "I look forward to working with them as we begin the urgent and immediate task of ensuring quality, affordable health care for every American."
He also underscored the importance of working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., lawmakers the administration deems crucial in passing health care.
Sebelius was re-elected in 2006 for her second term as governor, and she endorsed Obama in January 2008. Before her governorship, she served eight years as Kansas insurance commissioner. (Subscribers can read her full profile in the Almanac of American Politics here.) While Daschle was slated to fill both the HHS post and the White House health czar, Obama has chosen to split the role between two appointments.
In her remarks at the press conference, Sebelius drew parallels between the ailing economy and health care, stressing that "we can't fix the economy without fixing health care." She went on to emphasize her commitment to working across the aisle. "This isn't a partisan challenge; it's an American challenge, and one that we can't afford to ignore," she said.
Continue reading Obama Announces Sebelius For HHS, DeParle As Health Czar.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
(Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee this afternoon revealed that another of President Obama's nominees -- U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk -- has tax problems.
Finance staff briefed aides to committee members today on the revelations, which indicate the former Dallas mayor underpaid taxes to the tune of $9,975 during 2005-07, and that he has agreed to promptly file adjustments. The underpayments deal in part with speaking honoraria he received that he listed as charitable donations to his alma mater, Austin College.
Kirk instead should have reported the honoraria as taxable income and then deducted the donations. The panel also asked Kirk for substantiation of other charitable donations he has made, including a television set, and it has questioned Kirk's write-offs of business expenses, including those for Dallas Mavericks season tickets.
Finance Committee leaders said in a joint statement that it was important for all panel members to have the necessary information in advance of next Monday's confirmation hearing. In a separate statement, Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., reiterated support for the nominee: Kirk "is the right person for this job and I will work to move his nomination quickly," he said.
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
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."
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.
