Think Progress: White House Politicization of Federal Agencies

[seafan]

A big hat tip to Think Progress for compiling this.


WAXMAN, CONYERS AND LEAHY, REFUEL YOUR ENGINES.

In 2005, Mehlman Declared He Wanted To Create “The George Bush Empire.” “One of the things that can happen in Washington when you work in an agency is that you forget who sent you there,” Mehlman explained. “And it’s important to remind people you’re George Bush peopple. You work for the secretary, but you are George Bush people. And it’s very important becasue Washington becomes a town where it’s very easy for everyone to build their own little empries. If there’s one empire I want built, it’s the George Bush empire.” ....(One Party Country, p. 10)

Bush White House Sets Record for Politicization of Cabinet Agencies. “Never before has the White House inserted electoral priorities into Cabinet agencies with such regularity and deliberation. Before the 2002 midterm elections, for instance, Rove or Mehlman visited with the managers of many federal agencies to share polling information and discuss how policy decisions might affect key races,” state Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten, who also wrote One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century. ....(LA Times, 6/25/06)

Between 2001 and 2003, Mehlman and Rove Visited Nearly Every Agency. “Over the past two years, Mr. Rove or his top aide, Kenneth Mehlman — now manager of Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign — have visited nearly every agency to outline White House campaign priorities, review polling data and, on occasion, call attention to tight House, Senate and gubernatorial races that could be affected by regulatory action.” ....(WSJ, 7/20/03)

Rove Briefed Interior Department Officials On How to Secure Sen. Gordon Smith’s Election. ....(WSJ, 7/20/03)


Rove’s Presentation to Interior Department to Help Gordon Smith Resulted In Devastating Environmental Consequences. ....(LA Times, 6/25/06)

White House Held Political Briefings At Commerce Department. “At the Commerce Department, briefings by White House political officials were conducted in 2002, in March 2004, and in April 2006, according to department spokesman E. Richard Mills, who described them as ‘purely informational,’ legal and appropriate. More than 100 political appointees at the department were invited to each one, and they were held in the headquarters building’s main auditorium.” ....(Washington Post, 4/26/07)

Sec. Carlos Gutierrez Received Private Briefing from White House.....(Washington Post, (4/26/07)

Twenty-Eight EPA Appointees Attended Briefing At White House in July 2006. “Twenty-eight political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency attended such a briefing last July 17 at the White House executive office complex, and an unknown number attended one at those offices the following month, according to EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood. She said that Jennings gave the presentation at the first meeting and that Sara M. Taylor, who directs the White House Office of Political Affairs, gave the second one.” ....(Washington Post, 4/26/07)

Several Other Agencies Report Attending Political Briefings. “Spokesmen at the departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation also confirmed that their political appointees received such briefings at their headquarters. Stanzel confirmed that they were also given at the departments of Health and Human Services, Interior, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, Education, Agriculture and Energy, as well as NASA, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Agency for International Development…. all of those describing the briefings on the record had adopted a uniform phrase in response to a reporter’s inquiries: They were, each official said, “informational briefings about the political landscape.” ....(Washington Post, 4/26/07)

Under Bush Appointee, OSHA Constituencies Have Donated $650 Million to Republicans. “Under Edwin Foulke, a Republican Party operative, OSHA, responsible for worker safety, has shifted from enforcement to taking industries’ word that they will play nice. Perhaps not coincidentally, the three largest fields regulated by OSHA — agribusiness, construction and transportation — have off-loaded $630 million into GOP coffers during Bush’s run so far.” ....(Waco Tribune, 5/1/07)

Former Bush Appointee Alleges Mehlman Used Office of Faith Based Initiatives to Mobilize GOP Voters. David Kuo, formerly of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives alleges that then-White House political affairs director Ken Mehlman “knowingly participated in a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly ‘nonpartisan’ events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.” ....(MSNBC, 10/13/06)

[seafan]

1. A kick for Waxman, Conyers, Leahy staff who might be lurking. n/t