This doesn’t happen very often.
A U.S. Supreme Court justice traveled to the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building beside the White House earlier this week to swear in the new director of one of the most arcane bureaus in the government.
But there was a good reason Justice Clarence Thomas went to the ornate Indian Treaty Room to give the oath to Neomi Rao, the administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
She clerked for Thomas in the court, and they hit it off.
“I clerked for Justice Thomas,” she told Secrets. “He is a wonderful man. He’s the best,” she added.
Insiders said the room was packed, but that Thomas was the “rock star.” And unlike other drawn-out affairs, one said it was extremely efficient. Budget boss Mick Mulvaney spoke first, for 45 seconds, followed by the president’s top lawyer, Don McGahn, who introduced Thomas, and then Thomas jumped up to give the oath.
“I think her recitation was the longest thing said,” said one aide.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
