President Obama’s first day in Office

Posted by Mike Sylvester - 1/22/09 @ 3:33 am - Filed Under National Politics

The President issued some Executive Orders and Presidential memoranda per Daily Kos.

I overall like them and think they are steps in the right direction.

The first freezes his White House senior staff pay at current levels to the full extent allowed by law.  I like this a lot.

Next and first it prohibits executive branch employees from accepting gifts from lobbyists.  Second, he closes the revolving door that allows government officials to move to and from private sector jobs in ways that give that sector undue influence over government.  Third, he requires that government hiring be based upon qualifications, competence and experience, not political connections.  All of these are very good; however, the devil is in the details and we will see if this is followed; I certainly hope it is.

Next the President instructs all members of his administration to operate under principles of openness, transparency and of engaging citizens with their government.  To implement these principles and make them concrete, the Memorandum on Transparency instructs three senior officials to produce an Open Government Directive within 120 days directing specific actions to implement the principles in the Memorandum.  And the Memorandum on FOIA instructs the Attorney General to in that same time period issue new guidelines to the government implementing those same principles of openness and transparency in the FOIA context.  All of these are very good; however, the devil is in the details and we will see if this is followed; I certainly hope it is.

And this order ends the practice of having others besides the President assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends.  Now, only the President will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse.  And the order also requires the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to review claims of executive privilege about covered records to make sure those claims are fully warranted by the Constitution.  I am not sure about this one. 

I think the big one about “Gitmo” will come out tomorrow.

Mike Sylvester

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