Cabinet to White House: Stop Ignoring Us

In modern presidential administrations, policymaking has increasingly shifted from the Cabinet to the White House. But the Obama administration seems to have taken it to a new extreme, according to a report in today's Washington Post.

In an interview with the Post, White House Chief of Staff William Daley acknowledged that Cabinet members had approached him to say they felt slighted. "You hear the same thing: 'I don't think we're used well. I don't think we're consulted enough,' " Daley said. "Whether it's true or not, perception becomes reality, and I think there's a desire to feel more part of a team."

Presidents have long been isolated from the bureaucracy, and even from high-ranking career civil servants. But now they seem to be distant even from their own political appointees in Cabinet departments. This has a serious impact on the way government is run.

For example, I have to wonder if the Obama administration's recent push to reorganize government would be unfolding differently if Cabinet members, other high-ranking political appointees and career executives had more of a voice in policy planning. Yesterday, a series of panels of federal management experts -- many of them veterans of previous reorganization efforts -- met at the National Academy of Public Administration to discuss the reorganization effort. Almost universally, they agreed that reorganizations are messy, time-consuming, difficult and costly.

It seems clear the administration didn't consult with such groups before including a sweeping reorganization proposal in Obama's State of the Union address. But did they even consult Cabinet members?