Browner Leaves

Our chapter on bureaucracy and the administrative state includes a photo essay (p. 473) on Carol Browner, the president's assistant for energy and climate change. Her long career -- in business, government, and the nonprofit sector; on the state and federal levels; and in the legislative and executive branches -- illustrates multiple parts of the environmental issue network. The New York Times reports:

Carol M. Browner, the White House coordinator for energy and climate change policy, will leave the administration shortly, officials confirmed Monday night. Her departure signals at least a temporary slowing of the ambitious environmental goals of President Obama’s first two years in the face of new Republican strength in Congress.

Ms. Browner, a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was charged with directing the administration’s effort to enact comprehensive legislation to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases and moving the country away from a dependence on dirty-burning fossil fuels. That effort foundered in Congress last year, and Mr. Obama has acknowledged that no major climate change legislation is likely to pass in the next two years.

No decision has been made on whether she would be replaced or if the position would simply disappear, a White House official said.

Czars

President Obama has given policy responsibility to aides who are not subject to Senate confirmation. Some refer to these officials as "czars." This week, a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary took up the issue. According to The New York Times:

Senator Russ Feingold held his promised hearing on the constitutionality of so-called czars in the Obama administration on Tuesday afternoon, winnowing away at a list of criticized appointees in his effort to examine whether the Senate’s advise-and-consent role was being circumvented by the executive branch. Next up is a hearing a week from Wednesday, when the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee takes up the issue, too, zeroing in a little differently on the number of so-called czars and a slightly expanded number of appointments during President Obama’s tenure. When Senator Feingold, who is chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, opened his hearing, he called it “unfortunate” that the White House had
refused to send a representative to talk about the issue before the panel. “It’s also a bit ironic,” Senator Feingold noted, “since one of the concerns that has been raised about these officials is that they will thwart congressional oversight of the Executive Branch."

In the textbook, we have a photo essay on "Climate Czar" Carol Browner. One of the witnesses, Matt Spalding of Heritage, discussed her role. You may read his testimony here.