Bush relying on interim appointees to fill agencies.
Bush relying on interim appointees to fill agencies.
With 462 days left in his term, President Bush “has left whole agencies of the executive branch to be run largely by acting or interim appointees — jobs that would normally be filled by people whose nominations would have been reviewed and confirmed by the Senate.” The New York Times adds:
In many cases, there is no obvious sign of movement at the White House to find permanent nominees, suggesting that many important jobs will not be filled by Senate-confirmed officials for the remainder of the Bush administration. [...]
While exact comparisons are difficult to come by, researchers say that the vacancy rate for senior jobs in the executive branch is far higher at the end of the Bush administration than it was at the same point in the terms of Mr. Bush’s recent predecessors in the White House.
Currently, three executive agencies are being headed by interim officials.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Seems like the rats are fleeing the sinking s.s. bush.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:35 pmthe pres is trying desperately to shed that “the ceo president” label by not giving a crap and/or phoning it in.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:42 pmTP seems to always use NY Times stories on the weekends. But here’s a reason why Bush wasn’t accepting Ahmadinejad’s invitation to visit Iran:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7044268.stm
October 14th, 2007 at 8:42 pmThis is how he gets around Senate approval of his cronies. And this is how the Senate allows him to do it.
Battered country syndrome.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:49 pmThat is what happens when you are an incompetent.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:04 pmNo one in ANY department of Bush’s Administration has been doing their job anyway so what’s the diff? Same ole/same ole as I see it.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:11 pmwhat’s changed?
Zooey: Agreed. This senate has to be one of the worst and I hope that every Bushie Senator has a viable opponent if their term is up in 08. It’s time to get these “enablers” out of our government.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:12 pmWell all the really smart folks are working at FOX antway.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:13 pmInterim appoint without Senate confirmation until January 2009. Just dandy for the Unitary Executive. Be like, act like, think like a despot/dictator – without being tagged with that nasty official moniker. Heil, mein Führer!
October 14th, 2007 at 9:31 pmSeems like the rats are fleeing the sinking s.s. bush.
Comment by helenahandbasket — October 14, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
I know I run the risk of seeming picky here, helena, but, really wouldn’t it be more correct to say, “the rats are fleeing the SUNKEN s.s. bush”?
Sink (v) – To sink, to go to the bottom and sit there.
Sink, sank sunk, sunken…
Glub… glub… glub…
October 14th, 2007 at 9:36 pmBattered country syndrome.
Comment by Zooey — October 14, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
Zooey! You’re alive! Thank god! I heared this rumor that you got et the other night by a bear!
October 14th, 2007 at 9:38 pmBy the time there’s a Democrat in the White House, Bush will have allowed most government agencies to become inadequately staffed and unable to function effectively. It’s part of his slash and burn reaction to his and Rove’s failures of perpetuating Republican control of our and government. Bush would rather destroy our government than hand it over to duly elected Democrats.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:38 pmTP seems to always use NY Times stories on the weekends. But here’s a reason why Bush wasn’t accepting Ahmadinejad’s invitation to visit Iran:
I can think of no reason why the Iranians would want to assassinate Putin. Bush, clearly they would have a reason to try an assassination but Putin, no. Why would they want to kill the leader of a country that is supporting them? That makes no sense.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:43 pm10: You may be right, however if the ship is already sunk, the rats are probably drowned. But some rats (e.g. condi, cheney) are still on the ship. So I think, that the ship is sinking and won’t be completely under water until January, 2009, hopefully dragging down the rest of g.o.p. to the murky depths.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:52 pm#13: “I can think of no reason why the Iranians would want to assassinate Putin.” – - The Iranians DON’T. Did you read the article or just not comprehend it?
October 14th, 2007 at 10:14 pmGet that Lame Duck some crutches. Or mayhaps a wheel chair.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:32 pmThe webbing has come of the feets.
Or the exit of key members before the next big thing may be a calculated move by Cheney to ensure that those who left can’t be implicated. If you’re about to do something guaranteed to sink the ship, you want to get as many supporters off the ship so that they can be around for the next wave. I think those remaining are confident that they won’t lose their heads when the people experience what’s next, though I am surprised that Rice hasn’t exited yet.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:04 amConsidering the quality of most nominees supported by Bush et al, this could be a real blessing. The next president can installl some good people and won’t have to weed out the hacks left over from Bush.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:02 amWhat difference does Senate Confirmation make? Weren’t cronies like Brownie confirmed? Alberto was confirmed, no? They still manage to destory the stated mission of whatever department.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:31 amThere doesn’t seem to be any consequence for criminal incompetence one way or the other.
Clinton did it too!!
October 15th, 2007 at 1:32 am~Bush cult rallying cry
Our new VP will have a big job of combing the fleas out of every nook and cranny of OUR government! That is after fumagating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave!
October 15th, 2007 at 2:24 amBush is frantically trying to shrink government fast enough to drown it in a bathtub before the Democrats can get a hold of it. That is what Bush does: he wrecks things just to spite the other kids.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:01 amI think it’s the childish “If I can’t have it, NO ONE will” mentality…
by shrub leaving the govt in a shambles for the next president (who will in all likelihood be a democrat) it makes it that much tougher for a dem president to look good while hosing out the cesspool…
Besides, shrub is still p*ssed off about Gore winning the Nobel, so he’s going to make everyone else ‘pay’…
October 15th, 2007 at 6:43 am.
.
.
.
They can’t tolerate scrutiny of their darksdie machinations.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:00 amBob is right. Makes no difference whether his picks are confirmed or not. They wreak whatever damage they’re going to do with impunity, then leave for some well paid cushy job in the private sector.
The Dems refuse to do anything about it so, let’s face it, Bush continues to do whatever he wants.
What other shit is going on with this group that we don’t even know about?
October 15th, 2007 at 8:12 amBush isn’t even pretending that he’s giving all the jobs to his buddies, and by avoiding Senate confirmation, he’s no longer even pretending they’re qualified for the jobs they hold.
Unmitigated arrogance, or has he just simply given up?
October 15th, 2007 at 8:31 amTime for a “President Czar” to do George’s homework for him?
October 15th, 2007 at 4:42 pmMy God, our country’s being run by temps! So the trend is complete. And now no longer a trend.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:48 pm