Succession

Orders of succession in government have always seemed a bit random to me. But it's amusing to see the order President Bush has established in two executive orders for who steps up if the heads of the Agriculture and Transportation Departments are for some reason unable to serve. At Agriculture, the General Counsel is next in line, followed by the Chief Financial Officer. At Transportation, it's the head of the Federal Highway Administration, followed by the Federal Aviation Administrator. I have no idea what this says about the relative prestige of these positions within their departments, but I must say, I hope the Director of the Kansas City Commodity Office is prepared to take over Ag if it comes to that.