Political appointees need training class, panel says

Here's a proposal few career civil servants would oppose: Give new political appointees better training on how the government works.

That's the idea behind a bill being drafted by Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Management, Information and Technology. The bill would authorize the use of funds for structured orientations for political appointees when new administrations come into power. Orientations would be offered between the general election and 30 days after the inauguration.

"Over the years, there have been many examples of missteps and outright errors made by newly appointed officials in the White House," Horn said at a hearing Wednesday. "However capable and well-intentioned, new and unseasoned appointees are especially susceptible to misjudgments that, at a minimum, can be politically embarassing."

Distinguished panelists, including Elliott Richardson, attorney general under President Nixon, and Lee White, counsel to President Kennedy and President Johnson, testified that political appointees must be taught that the career civil service is an invaluable resource-not an obstacle. By respecting career leaders, new political appointees can get their government careers started on the right foot, Richardson said.

"This is undercut if the presidential appointee is a smartass and a cynic and stupid enough to think you have to be a businessman, a Republican, a Democrat, or of their particular orientation in order to be devoted to the best interests of the United States," Richardson said.

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 provides funding to allow for a smooth changing of the guard in the executive branch, but does not specifically require orientation for political appointees. The Council for Excellence in Government offers an orientation program, and the Pew Charitable Trusts recently awarded the Brookings Institution a $3.6 million grant to help political apointees through the process of becoming public servants. But the quality of training for appointees has varied from administration to administration, panelists at the hearing said.

Panelists said understanding the relationships that are required for getting government work done should be a main point of political appointee training. Appointees should learn how to relate to:

• Career civil servants
• Other political appointees with whom they will be working
• Relevant congressional committees and staff
• Outside organizations with a stake in their programs
• The media
• Budget examiners at the Office of Management and Budget
• White House staff

As a political appointee, "you have to grab a hold of yourself and shake yourself," former presidential counsel White said. "Political appointees come and go, but the people in the agencies will be there when you get there, and they'll be there when you leave."