President Barack Obama’s agenda is being stalled by a largely self-inflicted inability to fill top positions in his administration.
After a quick start, Obama has fallen behind Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, said Terry Sullivan, executive director of the White House Transition Project, which tracks presidential staff. At this point, Bush and Clinton had made all their Cabinet appointments. Obama has nominated 13 of 15.
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The delays go beyond Cabinet posts and have been most damaging at the Treasury Department, where Secretary Timothy Geithner is the only Senate-confirmed appointment. Among the missing: a deputy secretary, an administrator for the bank-bailout program, undersecretaries for domestic finance and international affairs, and a general counsel.
“It’s absolutely shocking we don’t have a full Treasury Department given the enormous economic and banking challenges we face,” said Darrell West, head of government studies at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
The treasury is charged with carrying out the administration’s broad effort to pull the economy out of a recession, rescue the banking system, overhaul government regulations and fix the housing market.
“It’s critically important that Secretary Geithner has a full complement of officials to support him ASAP — like yesterday,” said Rob Nichols, a former treasury official and now president of the Financial Services Forum in Washington, which represents the heads of banks.
Vetting embarrassments encountered by several nominees, including Geithner, are a principal cause of the slowdown in appointments. Other hurdles include the ethical standards set by Obama and the willingness of Republicans on Capitol Hill to exploit the president’s difficulties.
The pace of Obama’s appointments slowed in the wake of bungled nominations, particularly that of former Sen. Tom Daschle, who withdrew from consideration as chief of health and human services because of tax issues.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which approves treasury nominees, said the process is likely to remain slow.
“I bet if you interview me three months from now, he won’t have the sub-Cabinet filled,” Grassley said.
Obama may soon present Grassley’s committee with another candidate: Former Securities and Exchange Commission member Annette Nazareth is the leading candidate to become Geithner’s deputy, according to people familiar with the matter.
The White House has a six-person squad to re-examine potential nominees, all of whom will be subjected to audits, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Further, FBI background checks are pending for many nominees whose names otherwise would be submitted by now.
“Some people call it a proctology exam,” said Symantec Corp. Chief Executive John Thompson, who was vetted for commerce secretary after Obama’s first choice dropped out. “We provided all kinds of details: Tax returns, accounts, every speech I’ve ever given in the past 25 years.”
As a result of the new standards, even treasury, which is responsible for averting what Obama has warned could become a national economic “catastrophe,” is being run largely by a skeleton crew, with Geithner relying on experts at the Federal Reserve and the White House.
“I’m sure Tim Geithner would love his team fully in place,” said Ken Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. “It’s an overwhelming job and it becomes extraordinarily overwhelming if you are the only person there.”
