President Barack Obama named two women this week to lead his effort to overhaul the nation’s health-care system. One of them, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, began preparing for confirmation hearings, where senators will probe her views on health policy and demand lengthy documentation of her credentials.
But the other woman, Nancy-Ann DeParle, can begin work right away, without outside review of her abilities or opinions. And although lawmakers can ask Sebelius for testimony in the future and control her budget, DeParle will remain largely outside the gaze of Congress.
That is because DeParle holds the newly created post of “health czar” — one of several new “czar” positions that are within the White House and require no Senate review. Sebelius, by contrast, is on tap to become the secretary of health and human services — a position for which Congress has developed well-worn methods of oversight.
Now, with the number of czars growing, some lawmakers and outside experts fear that Obama is concentrating too much policymaking and power within the White House — and also setting up the potential for conflict among his many advisers.
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) became concerned enough to send a cautionary letter to Obama last week. At times, he said, White House staffers of the past have assumed duties that should be the responsibility of officials cleared through the Senate confirmation process.
“They rarely testify before congressional committees and often shield the information and decision-making process behind the assertion of executive privilege,” Byrd wrote of past czars and White House staffers in similar positions.
At times, he said, one outcome has been to “inhibit openness and transparency, and reduce accountability.” Such “rapid and easy accumulation of power by White House staff can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances,” Byrd said.
In addition to naming DeParle to coordinate health-care policy, Obama has tapped Carol Browner to be White House energy czar, a post that could overlap with the functions of the Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency. Adolfo Carrion, a former Bronx borough president, is the urban affairs czar, a job that may dovetail with the functions of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
And Paul Volcker, Obama’s big-picture economic czar, must coordinate with the Treasury Department and other agencies.
The White House says the czars are needed to focus on the president’s toughest tasks — such as overhauling the health-care system — which will require cooperation from several agencies. The czars’ job is to move among the agencies and coordinate.
“The challenges coming at us are bigger than anything we’ve seen since the Depression,” said Jim Messina, deputy White House chief of staff. “It’s crucial to have people in these positions who can help us meet them head on.”
But Paul Light, an expert on the presidency at New York University, said Byrd has a valid constitutional concern about Obama’s use of czars. Light, too, is worried about Obama’s expansion of the czar system, but his apprehension is focused on more practical concerns.
He points out that previous presidential czars became frustrated because they had no permanent staff, and their power was diffuse. Besides, he said, “there are so many czars in this White House, they’ll be constantly bumping into each other.”
The confusion about competing roles played by czars and their Cabinet counterparts was on display Monday as Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, tried to explain how authority would be divided between DeParle and Sebelius in steering health reform.
At first he declared that DeParle “will be in charge.” Then he acknowledged a role for Sebelius and others.
“I think obviously this is something that spans across many platforms, not unlike, say, something like energy independence, that a lot of people that work in this building and in different agencies will be involved in,” he said.
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Positions of power
The idea of dubbing a powerful White House aide a “czar” has been around at least since Richard Nixon named an “energy czar” in the early 1970s. The title — which comes from the Russian word for the emperor Caesar — gives the impression of great power and authority, though that has not always been the case for White House czars. The connotation of a czar as a ruthless tyrant comes from the reign of Russia’s Czar Ivan IV, who earned the nickname Ivan the Terrible for his murderous reign. Many presidents since Reagan have appointed czars, but no president has named as many as Barack Obama.
ENERGY CZARS
William Simon: the nation’s first energy czar, appointed by Richard Nixon after the oil price spike of 1973. In his autobiography, Simon said Nixon “announced to the Cabinet that I was to have ‘absolute authority’ and compared the job he was giving me with the role that Albert Speer played in the Third Reich when he was put in charge of German armaments.” He went on to serve as Treasury Secretary under Nixon and Gerald Ford. He was succeeded by …
John Sawhill: considered the country’s second energy czar. Some historians note that Sawhill never achieved the stature in the White House that he sought, in part because he was dealing with rivals: Interior Secretary Rogers Morton and Treasury’s William Simon.
DRUG CZAR
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William J. Bennett: Had the drug czar title in 1989 under the first President George Bush. He had been secretary of education and was always a controversial figure, even in conservative circles. Known for his effort to kick a cigarette habit and his affinity for gambling, Bennett came under criticism in his first year as head of drug policy for clamping down on drugs but not aggressively tackling alcohol and nicotine addiction. His post was subject to Senate confirmation.
HEALTH CZAR
Ira Magaziner: this technically oriented White House aide in the Clinton administration was known as health czar for the newly elected Bill Clinton. But he found his profile eclipsed by the emergence of a more powerful health czarina, Hillary Clinton, who directed the White House Health Care Task Force. Clinton and Magaziner’s attempt to pass a health reform plan without the close involvement of Congress generated criticism and provided a lasting lesson that the Obama White House says it has absorbed. After Clinton’s health effort fizzled, Magaziner assumed the title of White House technology czar.
HOMELAND SECURITY CZAR
Tom Ridge: The Pennsylvania governor was named to this post after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He headed a new White House Office of Homeland Security but found it frustrating because he had limited staff and legal authority. President George W. Bush in 2003 successfully urged Congress to create a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security; Ridge became the huge agency’s first secretary.
OBAMA’S CZARS
Health reform czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle (above)
Energy and environment czar: Carol Browner
Urban affairs: Adolfo Carrion
Government performance czar: A position unfilled since Nancy Killefer resigned after it was revealed she had failed to pay tax obligations for household help
— Tom Hamburger
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Take a look at first 100 days: Photos chronicle President Obama’s first days: chicagotribune.com/100days