With Lawmakers Away, the President Plays Politics

Friday, July 9, 2010 9:19 AM

Rather than going through the standard nomination process, Obama appointed Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week while Congress was in recess. Appointments of this nature are supposed to stand Senate confirmation. Particularly troubling is the broad authority Berwick is granted in his position as head of CMS, where he would be partially in charge of implementing the new health care law. Moreover, CMS has been particularly helpful in aiding the administration in its propaganda war on the health care bill, most notably in its recent taxpayer-funded pamphlet lauding the bill. With $18 million in its coffers to distribute leaflets, it’s not difficult to imagine the potential damage that could be done to taxpayers’ wallets by a politically-motivated, unqualified bureaucrat at the helm of CMS.

 The fiscal impact of the healthcare bill is reportedly now teetering above $2 trillion - taxpayers deserve a fully vetted candidate to oversee its administration. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with the President’s blatantly political move, as legislators have been calling for a hearing on Berwick for weeks. While President does have the authority to bypass the confirmation process, this power was delegated under the understanding that it would be used during long recesses – it’s hard to see how the week Congress is away presents any immediate peril. For an administration that continues to pledge unprecedented openness, this is a peculiar, and thinly-veiled, affront to accountability.

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