Presidential Bureaucracy November 14, 2017

White House Staff The White House is the administrative center of the executive branch of American national government. It contains 135 offices, including a chief of staff, press secretary, speechwriter, appointments secretary, national security advisor, legislative liaison, counselor to the president, and various special assistants. General John Kelly is the current White House chief of staff. He previously served as the Secretary of Homeland Security. He succeeded Reince Priebus who resigned in June 2017, the victim of political infighting.

Role of the Staff The White House staff gives the president advice on policy issues and politics, screens key appointments, manages press relations, organizes the president’s workday, and ensures that the president's wishes are carried out. Sarah Huckabee Sanders became White House press secretary in June 2017 after Sean Spicer resigned.

Selection of Staff The president selects the White House staff without Senate confirmation. As with most presidential appointees (the exceptions are federal judges and regulatory commissioners), White House staff members serve at the president's pleasure. What do you think that phrase means? To serve at the president’s pleasure means that the president can remove them at will.

Loyalty matters The president selects staff members based in large part on their personal loyalty to him. Frequently, a president’s staff consists of the men and women who help run his political campaign. What are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing aides based on loyalty? The president can trust them to work on his behalf. Nonetheless, they may lack the knowledge and expertise to provide effective assistance.

Trump Family Matters Trump has relied more than any other president on his family members. Pictured above, Trump is standing with is sons Eric and Donald, Jr., and his daughter Avanka.

Jared Kushner Upon taking office, Donald Trump appointed 36 year-old son-in law Jared Kushner as a senior advisor to the president and assigned him the task of brokering peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Kushner has no diplomatic training or experience.

Executive Office The Executive Office of the President is the group of White House offices and agencies that develop and implement the policies and programs of the president.

Each of these agencies has a professional staff.

National Security Council (NSC) The National Security Council (NSC) is an agency in the Executive Office of the President that advises the chief executive on matters involving national security. It includes the president, vice president, secretaries of state and defense, and other officials the president may choose to include, such as the national security advisor, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In short, the NSC assists with security matters.

Mike Flynn, Trump’s choice as National Security Advisor , was forced to resign after less than a month in office after information surfaced that Flynn lied to the Vice President about the nature and content of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn apparently also accepted money from foreign governments without the required prior approval.

OMB The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is an agency that assists the president in preparing the budget. The OMB is an important instrument of presidential control of the executive branch. It assists the president in preparing the annual budget to be submitted to Congress, screens bills drawn up by executive-branch departments and agencies to ensure that they do not conflict with the president's policy goals, monitors expenditures by executive-branch departments, and evaluates regulations proposed by executive agencies. In short, the OMB assists with the budget and with management of the executive branch.

Council of Economic Advisers They are all white males. The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is an agency in the Executive Office of the President charged with offering the president economic advice. In short, the CEA assists with economic policy. Note anything interesting about Trump’s team?

Delegation An efficient, knowledgeable White House staff is an important element of presidential power. Members of the staff not only advise the president on policy issues and political strategy, but they often act on behalf of the president in dealing with Congress, members of the executive-branch bureaucracy, and the media.

Flawed Decision-making President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war against Iraq was based on a flawed decision-making process within the administration. Intelligence information was contradictory on whether Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Bush administration accepted the arguments and evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing WMD while rejecting counter evidence and arguments. The result was the disaster of the war in Iraq.

What You Have Learned What is the White House staff? How are its members chosen? On what criteria are they chosen? What does it mean when we say an official serves “at the president’s pleasure?” What is the Executive Office of the President? What is the NSC? What does it do? What is the OMB? What does it do? What is the CEA? What does it do?