http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44709.html
Memo to White House: Lawyer up
President Obama needs to ensure GOP chairmen don't swamp day-to-day work. |
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By JOSH GERSTEIN |
11/4/10 2:41 PM EDT
Updated:
11/4/10 5:59 PM EDT
Democratic strategists say President Barack Obama needs to act fast to make sure that one of the most tangible consequences of the Republican takeover of the House —
an army of GOP committee chairman seeking confidential executive branch
deliberations — doesn’t swamp the day-to-day work of the White House.
Veterans of the contentious battles of the Clinton administration warn that the Obama White House is entirely unprepared for the level of scrutiny it is about to experience. “They’ve already been complaining that they’re beleaguered by Congress,” said one veteran Democratic strategist. “I don’t think [White House aides] have the slightest idea what they’re facing.”
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“Just managing the investigations, the inquiries and the subpoenas can consume a lot of the rest of what the White House is doing,” he said.
Sources say that White House Counsel Bob Bauer reached out in the past couple of weeks to possible candidates who could join an enhanced team of lawyers, spokespeople and legislative affairs personnel dedicated to responding to requests from the newly emboldened GOP House and others in Congress.
A White House spokesman had no comment Wednesday on any staff changes or hiring to accommodate Republican inquiries. However, one official said the White House would do what’s necessary to respond to congressional queries.
"We will of course support Congress in meeting its legitimate oversight responsibilities,” said a White House aide, who asked not to be named. “It's our hope that the administration and Congress can work together to ensure that this important function is not abused to score political points or for other improper purposes."
Some Democratic operatives pointed to the restructuring of Clinton’s staff after the Republican victory in 1994 as a model for the Obama White House. The plan, devised by then-deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, called for personnel exclusively dedicated to handling investigations.
“In very broad brush, what we tried to do was to wall off or to some extent insulate the rest of the White House from what we called damage control,” Ickes said. “It was a blizzard of subpoenas and document production work that that really could have diverted attention.”
Fabiani said the net result of the Clinton White House’s approach was to help smooth dealings with Congress and divert press questions about the probes.
“By quarantining them, you don’t allow them to infect the daily press briefing because there’s always someone else to answer those questions and you don’t allow them to infect the other relationships you have to maintain on the Hill,” he said.
After spending months stoking stories about their newfound ability to police the Obama administration and put the brakes on key policies like health care reform, Republicans noticeably moderated their tone after Tuesday’s GOP victory.
Veterans of the contentious battles of the Clinton administration warn that the Obama White House is entirely unprepared for the level of scrutiny it is about to experience. “They’ve already been complaining that they’re beleaguered by Congress,” said one veteran Democratic strategist. “I don’t think [White House aides] have the slightest idea what they’re facing.”
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Legislative gridlock may be the least of the White House’s worries over
the next two years if its staff must respond to dozens of subpoenas
seeking details on the implementation of the health care reform law,
stimulus spending and the personnel issues that arise in every
administration.
“There’s no question that just dealing with the subpoenas in and of
themselves, finding the documents, the simple act of going around the
White House collecting and organizing the documents, that’s an enormous
effort and of course inevitably lead to fights with the Hill,” said
Mark Fabiani, a lawyer who handled President Bill Clinton’s response to
Whitewater and other controversies that congressional Republicans sought to investigate. “Just managing the investigations, the inquiries and the subpoenas can consume a lot of the rest of what the White House is doing,” he said.
Sources say that White House Counsel Bob Bauer reached out in the past couple of weeks to possible candidates who could join an enhanced team of lawyers, spokespeople and legislative affairs personnel dedicated to responding to requests from the newly emboldened GOP House and others in Congress.
A White House spokesman had no comment Wednesday on any staff changes or hiring to accommodate Republican inquiries. However, one official said the White House would do what’s necessary to respond to congressional queries.
"We will of course support Congress in meeting its legitimate oversight responsibilities,” said a White House aide, who asked not to be named. “It's our hope that the administration and Congress can work together to ensure that this important function is not abused to score political points or for other improper purposes."
Some Democratic operatives pointed to the restructuring of Clinton’s staff after the Republican victory in 1994 as a model for the Obama White House. The plan, devised by then-deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, called for personnel exclusively dedicated to handling investigations.
“In very broad brush, what we tried to do was to wall off or to some extent insulate the rest of the White House from what we called damage control,” Ickes said. “It was a blizzard of subpoenas and document production work that that really could have diverted attention.”
Fabiani said the net result of the Clinton White House’s approach was to help smooth dealings with Congress and divert press questions about the probes.
“By quarantining them, you don’t allow them to infect the daily press briefing because there’s always someone else to answer those questions and you don’t allow them to infect the other relationships you have to maintain on the Hill,” he said.
After spending months stoking stories about their newfound ability to police the Obama administration and put the brakes on key policies like health care reform, Republicans noticeably moderated their tone after Tuesday’s GOP victory.
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