It took two hours, but I read all of The Center for Public Integrity's (CPI) Broken Government: An Examination of 128 Executive Branch Failures since 2000. It was well worth my time.
The first two pages captured the heart of the piece, with the following points noted:
- Many of the failings are tied to Bush appointees who appear to have been selected primarily on the basis of ideology and loyalty, rather than competence.
- The administration has also displayed what’s at best a lukewarm interest in independent oversight, often siding with business over consumers and special interests over the public.
- Much of the function of the federal government shifted from public employees to private contractors, as federal spending on contractors nearly doubled from FY 2001 to FY 2006, jumping from $234.8 billion to $415 billion.
- Finally, the White House and its political appointees have frequently inserted themselves into matters of science, overruling experts and suppressing reports that did not coincide with the administration’s philosophy.
The report then goes on to note cataclysmic events which exposed the inadequacies of the federal government to deliver public services to its citizens. Among those noted are: The tragedies of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the financial meltdown, and a host of scares involving dangerous food, drug, and toy imports.
Josh Israel of CPI does an excellent job of organizing this report, which then goes on to categorize oversight by meaningful title. As all good reports should, this one informs and enlightens. Much of the subject matter -- such as product safety -- I don't cover extensively in this blog; however, I did find the analysis interesting and well-tied into the overall theme.
Among the items which do tie directly into this blog, was the haphazard creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which CPI refers to as "cobbled together in 2003 from 22 disparate agencies." Since 2003, DHS has been reorganized a number of times, and like many other agencies, morale among the remaining civil servants is reported to be dismally low.
Another sub-category heading in CPI's report is entitled, "Politicization at the Department of Interior." According to the report, "The litany of concerns prompted Earl Devaney, the department’s inspector general (IG), to claim that "short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior." After reading the passage, which includes reference to former Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, now sentenced to 10 months in prison, one might even conclude that Devaney's quote was an understatement.
In terms of federal workers, CPI has a section called, "Human Capital Issues Plague Government." An excerpt from that section reads, "The problem is not limited to one department, but affects the entire spectrum of government agencies, according to federal auditors. The original GAO report warned that the situation is creating a "governmentwide risk" that endangers the "federal government’s ability to effectively serve the American people," and that officials have "often acted as if people were costs to be cut rather than assets to be valued."
The ending section on the White House, is an important piece to be read in its entirety. A summary might include reference to the administration's push toward a unitary executive, a unit which holds opposition to judicial review of its decisions, and assertions of authority over congress -- as evidenced by an unprecedented use of signing statements. (Not to mention the brand new definition of the Vice President as someone NOT subject to Article II of the executive branch)
All in all, it was a great piece of writing that packaged the whole picture in a manner that the general public can appreciate. I leave you with a few tidbits from their final section: Broken Government: By the Numbers.
- 60 percent of EPA scientists report political interference with their work
- 1,273 whistleblower complaints filed from 2002-2008; 1,256 were dismissed
- 12.8 percent job turnover at the Department of Homeland Security in 2006 - double that of any other cabinet-level agency
- 806,000 Veterans Affairs disability claims in 2006, up 39 percent since 2000; backlog reached 400,000 claims by 2007
(Note: This entry is also crossposted here)