A Modest Proposal
The changes in the world since 1790 have mostly tended to strengthen the executive branch of the government. The founders did not envision a large standing army, so, for them, the power of Congress to raise Armies was a crucial part of the war powers of the constitution. It easy to believe that they also could not have foreseen the complexity of global commerce and other factors which have made our national government (every government) so large and intrusive.
There have been complaints lately about another recent Bush power grab - an executive order he signed to make all regulations pass through and be approved by an agency political officer.
There is a simple and useful measure Congress could take which would minimize politization, tend to restore the constitutional balance of power, and lead to better government in many ways. Right now, the President - each President - appoints about three-thousand political appointees to senior agency jobs. Those appointees include a few top aides of the President, ideally, a few senior leaders, and inevitably, about 2950 political hacks whose previous experience was assistant campaign advance man. Which is how a failed horse lawyer like Michael Brown winds up running FEMA. Presidents love these appointments because it allows them to reward their flunkys. It's quite striking how many of these appointees are responsible for the catastrophic failures of various administrations.
Congress could very easily replace, say, all but 30 or 50 of these with civil servants. Because the senior civil servants got to their positions by demonstrated expertise and have long experience in their agencies, they have a good idea how their agency works. Because they can expect to serve not just the present administration but future ones, they tend to be more conscious of the laws and the interests of the country than the political concerns of whomever happens to be President. Most other democracies make do with 10 or so political appointees - we could do with about 2900 fewer.
There have been complaints lately about another recent Bush power grab - an executive order he signed to make all regulations pass through and be approved by an agency political officer.
There is a simple and useful measure Congress could take which would minimize politization, tend to restore the constitutional balance of power, and lead to better government in many ways. Right now, the President - each President - appoints about three-thousand political appointees to senior agency jobs. Those appointees include a few top aides of the President, ideally, a few senior leaders, and inevitably, about 2950 political hacks whose previous experience was assistant campaign advance man. Which is how a failed horse lawyer like Michael Brown winds up running FEMA. Presidents love these appointments because it allows them to reward their flunkys. It's quite striking how many of these appointees are responsible for the catastrophic failures of various administrations.
Congress could very easily replace, say, all but 30 or 50 of these with civil servants. Because the senior civil servants got to their positions by demonstrated expertise and have long experience in their agencies, they have a good idea how their agency works. Because they can expect to serve not just the present administration but future ones, they tend to be more conscious of the laws and the interests of the country than the political concerns of whomever happens to be President. Most other democracies make do with 10 or so political appointees - we could do with about 2900 fewer.
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