Senators Express Concern With Number of Czars in Administration

Senators urge President to refrain from creating additional czars without
consulting Congress

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a letter to the President,
Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, questions the number of "czars" within the
Executive Office. In the letter, Senator Collins expresses concern that the
growing number of czars may be undermining the constitutional oversight
responsibilities of Congress. The letter was also signed by Senators Lamar
Alexander (R-TN), Kit Bond (R-MO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and
Bob Bennett (R-UT).

The full text of the letter is as follows:

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our growing concern with the proliferation of "czars" in
your Administration. These positions raise serious issues of accountability,
transparency, and oversight. The creation of "czars," particularly within the
Executive Office of the President, circumvents the constitutionally
established process of "advise and consent," greatly diminishes the ability of
Congress to conduct oversight and hold officials accountable, and creates
confusion about which officials are responsible for policy decisions.

To be clear, we do not consider every position identified in various reports
as a "czar" to be problematic. Positions established by law or subject to
Senate confirmation, such as the Director of National Intelligence, the
Homeland Security Advisor, and the Chairman of the Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board, do not raise the same kinds of concerns as positions that
you have established within the Executive Office of the President that are
largely insulated from effective Congressional oversight. We also recognize
that Presidents are entitled to surround themselves with experts who can serve
as senior advisors.

Many "czars" you have appointed, however, either duplicate or dilute the
statutory authority and responsibilities that Congress has conferred upon
Cabinet-level officers and other senior Executive branch officials. When
established within the White House, these "czars" can hinder the ability of
Congress to oversee the complex substantive issues that you have unilaterally
entrusted to their leadership. Whether in the White House or elsewhere, the
authorities of these advisors are essentially undefined. They are not subject
to the Senate's constitutional "advice and consent" role, including the
Senate's careful review of the character and qualifications of the individuals
nominated by the President to fill the most senior positions within our
government. Indeed, many of these new "czars" appear to occupy positions of
greater responsibility and authority than many of the officials who have been
confirmed by the Senate to fill positions within your Administration.

With these concerns in mind, we have identified at least 18 "czar" positions
created by your Administration whose reported responsibilities may be
undermining the constitutional oversight responsibilities of Congress or
express statutory assignments of responsibility to other Executive branch
officials. With regard to each of these positions, we ask that you explain:

-- the specific authorities and responsibilities of the position,
including
any limitations you have placed on the position to ensure that it does
not encroach on the legitimate statutory responsibilities of other
Executive branch officials;
-- the process by which the Administration examines the character and
qualifications of the individuals appointed by the President to fill
the
position; and,

-- whether the individual occupying the position will agree to any
reasonable request to appear before, or provide information to,
Congress.

We also urge you to refrain from creating similar additional positions or
making appointments to any vacant "czar" positions until you have fully
consulted with the appropriate Congressional committees.

Finally, we ask that you reconsider your approach of centralizing authority at
the White House. Congress has grappled repeatedly with the question of how to
organize the federal government. We have worked to improve the Department of
Homeland Security and bring together the disparate law enforcement,
intelligence, emergency response, and security components that form its core.
We established the Director of National Intelligence to coordinate the
activities of the 16 elements of the Intelligence Community, breaking down
barriers to cooperation that led to intelligence failures before the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001. The bipartisan review by the Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee of the failures associated with the
response to Hurricane Katrina led to fundamental reforms of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, improving our nation's preparedness and ability
to respond to disasters. In each of these cases, the Congress's proposed
solution did not consolidate power in a single czar locked away in a White
House office. Instead, working in a bipartisan fashion, we created a
transparent framework of accountable leaders with the authorities necessary to
accomplish their vital missions.

If you believe action is needed to address other failures or impediments to
successful coordination within the Executive branch, we ask that you consult
carefully with Congress prior to establishing any additional "czar" positions
or filling any existing vacancies in these positions. We stand ready to work
with you to address these challenges and to provide our nation's most senior
leaders with the legitimacy necessary to do their jobs - without furthering
the accountability, oversight, vetting, and transparency shortcomings
associated with "czars."

Sincerely,

Susan M. Collins
U.S. Senator

Lamar Alexander
U.S. Senator

Christopher S. Bond
U.S. Senator

Mike Crapo
U.S. Senator

Pat Roberts
U.S. Senator

Robert F. Bennett
U.S. Senator

SOURCE U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Kevin Kelley or Jeannine Guttman, both of the office of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, +1-202-224-4751