House Republicans introduced a bill today to eliminate Obama’s 39 czars.The Hill reported:
A group of House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various “czars” in the Obama administration.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 28 other House Republicans introduced legislation to do away with the informal, paid advisers President Obama has employed over the past two years.
The legislation, which was introduced in the last Congress but was not allowed to advance under Democratic control, would do away with the 39 czars Obama has employed during his administration
The bill defines a czar as “a head of any task force, council, policy office within the Executive Office of the President, or similar office established by or at the direction of the President” who is appointed to a position that would otherwise require Senate confirmation.
In the first 9 months of his presidency, Barack Obama created more appointed positions than any president in history.
These Obama appointees were confirmed by the Democrat-majority Senate:
California Water Czar: David J. Hayes [Salary: unknown]
Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske * [Salary: unknown]
Government Performance Czar: Jeffrey Zients [Salary: unknown]
Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair ** [Salary: $197,700]
Science Czar: John Holdren [Salary: unknown]
Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra [Salary: unknown]
Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter [Salary: unknown]
Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein* [Salary: unknown]
TARP Czar: Herb Allison [Salary: unknown]
These Obama appointees hold jobs created by Congress:
Information Czar: Vivek Kundra [Salary: unknown]
Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney [Salary: unknown]
These Czars [to the best of my knowledge] have not been confirmed:
Cyber Czar: Rod Beckstrom (resigned, 6/09)
Border Czar: Alan Bersin [Salary: unknown]
Terrorism Czar: John Brennan * [Salary: $172,200]
Oil Cleanup Czar: Michael R. Browwich
Energy Czar Carol Browner * [Salary: $172,200]
Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion, Jr. [Salary: $158,500]
AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley * [Salary: $102,000]
Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis [Salary: unknown]
Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle ** [Salary: $158,500]
Faith-based Czar: Joshua DuBois ** [Salary: $98,000]
Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg [Salary: reportedly unpaid.]
Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried [Salary: unknown]
Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration [Salary: unknown]
Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke * [Salary: unknown]
Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones (resigned Sept. 6, 2009) [Salary: unknown]
Bank Bailout Czar: Neel Kashkari
Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell [Salary: unknown]
Auto Recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery (stepped down, 6/10) [Salary: unknown]
Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal [Salary: unknown]
Mideast Policy (Iran) Czar: Dennis Ross [Salary: unknown]
Weapons of Mass Destruction Czar: Gary Samore [Salary: unknown] Weatherization Czar: Gil Sperling
Climate Czar: Todd Stern [Salary: unknown]
Economic Czar: Paul Volcker ** [Salary: Volcker reportedly is unpaid.]
Car Czar: Ron Bloom [Salary: unknown]
Safe Schools Czar: Kevin Jennings
* Denotes a position established by a prior administration that had its role redefined by Obama.
** Denotes a position established by a prior administration that had its appointment procedure changed by Obama.
Rense.com's list of Obama's czars (as of 10/24/09) is here.
Glenn Beck's list of Obama's czars (as of 8/20/09) can be found here.
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Government performance czar? Seriously? He should be canned just out of principle. Don't need a czar for that one, I can answer in one word - craptastic.
ReplyDelete@fleeceme - There really is no end to the ways government can think of to fleece us!
ReplyDeleteFYI - Rod Beckstrom is President and CEO of ICANN and not any kind of czar in the administration. Please get your facts straight.
ReplyDelete@FixIt - Consider it fixed. Thanks for the help keeping track of the comings and goings of Obama's numerous appointees.
ReplyDeleteBeckstrom used to be the national cybersecurity czar; he resigned reportedly over a clash with the administration over the wisdom of of controlling national cybersecurity efforts to a single government organization, calling the expanding control of the National Security Agency over the nation's computer security efforts "threats to our democratic processes."
If this works out, I'm looking forward to another bump in the unemployment rate.
ReplyDelete@ Nickie G - Maybe the unemployed czars will qualify for a re-education program. That should get them off the streets for 18 months.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big step. Reversing the imbalance of power is key.
ReplyDeleteTrestin - The executive branch shouldn't be making laws. It's past time for Congress to take back some of the power they relinquished so readily.
ReplyDelete