House Republicans Urge Obama to Reveal Specifics on His Czars
FOXNews.com
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The top Republicans on two House committees are calling on President Obama to reveal detailed information of all the so-called "czars" in his administration.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, wrote Obama a letter obtained by FOX News that urges the president to provide by Sept. 29 how much the czars make, their job descriptions, the organizational structures and the questionnaires they reportedly had to fill out, among other things.
The Republican lawmakers claim that Obama has created 53 czar positions and filled 45 of them based on publicly available information. The areas of responsibility for the czars range from the auto industry to national security to foreign affairs.
"While these are important issues affecting our country, there is considerable confusion surrounding the exact nature of these positions, the level of decision-making authority granted to them by the President and Department heads, the vetting undertaken by this Administration during its hiring processes," they wrote.
Republicans have long criticized Obama for the number of czars in his administration because they say he is usurping congressional authority by appointing officials that do not face Senate confirmation.
"There is also grave concern that, in the absence of the requirement for Senate confirmation, the Administration may be appointing individuals who would not otherwise withstand Congressional scrutiny," they wrote. "According to publicly available information, a pattern of behavior and associations maintained by some individuals runs contrary to the very core of our democracy."
They cited, among others, former "green jobs" czar Van Jones, a self-avowed communist who resigned this month under pressure from conservative critics for making a derogatory statement about Republicans and signing a petition calling for an investigation into whether the Bush administration allowed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to happen.
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