Amendment seeks cap on political appointees

Rep. Bill Luther, D-Minn., added an amendment to the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill Monday that would cap the number of political appointees at 2,000. Luther has championed such a limit for several years, offering a bill proposing the same thing earlier this year and similar measures in the last three congresses. According to Paul Light, vice president and director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution, the number of political appointees ballooned by 430 percent between 1960 and 1992. Now, the President appoints people to nearly 3,500 positions, 1,000 of which are subject to Senate confirmation. Light has long criticized the appointments process for being too intrusive, too time-consuming and too burdensome on the nominees. Capping the number of appointees would reduce the number of confirmation hearings required during presidential transitions, he argues. A 1996 report by the Congressional Budget Office found that capping the number of political appointees at 2,000 would produce a savings of $392 million over a five-year period. However, a higher number of political appointees would enable President Bush to wield more political control, said Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Moffitt. In a January Heritage report, Moffitt argued for more political appointees, saying they would help Bush establish control of the executive branch and ensure the success of his policy agenda.