Bringing “change” to Washington isn’t just a matter of introducing new domestic or international policies, or even successfully meeting today’s crises. It also means cleaning out the Augean Stables of federal deparments and agencies that have won reputations for incompetence, particularly during the Bush Era of indifferent management, cronyism, and ideological manipulation.
That’s why I hope the incoming Obama administration takes the time to review the congressionally-mandated Human Capital Survey of the federal bureaucracy, and the associated rankings of federal agencies conducted by the private nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
Some of the more disturbing findings of these two studies have been summarized for The Washington Monthly by Partnership president and CEO Max Stier and Kennedy School professor John D. Donohue, in an article provocatively entitled “The Next FEMA.” Among the agencies ranking notably low in morale, professionalism, and leadership are the Office of Thrift Supervision (which has a large role in supervising mortgage lenders), the Defense Contract Management Agency (home to vast cost overruns), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Defense Nuclear Detection Office (paging Sam Nunn!). And oh, yeah, the Department of Homeland Security, where FEMA’s now located, ranks second to the bottom among large agencies.
Stier and Donohue offer a variety of sensible reforms that can help bring change to troubled federal agencies, including a heavy emphasis on management expertise in leadership positions, and a focus on measurable results. But the most important factor may well be the ability of the new administration to take the unsexy but essential challenge of government reform seriously even as it juggles crises and pursues big policy priorities. As we all learned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, bad agencies have a way of creating their own crises and making themselves an unwanted priority.

Noam H. Levy reports in today’s L.A. Times on the emerging consensus for national health care reform. Levy says a ‘single-payer’ system is “off the table” for now, and, despite unresolved issues, there is growing agreement in Washington that the new system must preserve choice, contain costs, but not diminish existing coverage for anyone. He also cites growing support among Democratic members of congress for “a new system for those without insurance.”
AP’s Nedra Pickler has a preview report on President-elect Obama’s national security team, while MSNBC First Read has a comprehensive scorecard of Obama appointments and short-listers thus far, “The Obama Cabinet Speculation List.”
Politico‘s Roger Simon puts it all in perspective, noting that the big auto bailout is a bargain, compared to outlays for Iraq in his article, “$25 billion represents less than three months of the cost of the Iraq war.”
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune‘s ‘Politically Connected’ web page provides impressive coverage of the Franken-Coleman recount, with maps. Meanwhile the Princeton Election Consortium has a wonky post by a reader ‘RC’ explaining that the MN Senate race is “by any statistically reasonable standard, a perfect tie.”
As Georgia braces for the Sarah Palin show, James Oliphant of the Chicago Trib’s D.C. bureau has an update on the GA Senate run-off, “Ga. Election Holds Key to Democrats’ Senate Goals.” See also the McClatchy Newspapers’ report by David Lightman and Matt Barnwellon the Martin-Chambliss Senate race, “Battle for Georgia Senate Seat Waged on Two Levels.” Sean Quinn reports at fivethirtyeight.com that Martin may have an edge in on-the-ground organizers.
Don’t even think about running a political campaign in 2010 without checking out the New Tools Campaign web pages of The New Politics Institute.
Those interested in the challenges discussed in J.P. Green’s recent TDS post on ‘public diplomacy’ in the Obama era should also read a new Brookings Institution report, “Voices of America: U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century” by Kristin M. Lord, a Foreign Policy Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, specializing in U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.
How much damage could the lamest of lame ducks do in the interregnum? Quite a bit, as far as the environment is concerned, according to Mark Clayton’s Christian Science Monitor article ” Democrats brace for ‘midnight rules’ from Bush.” Clayton reviews environmentalists ‘worry list’ of Bush’s last minute initiatives to help polluters, and discusses how the Congressional Review Act of 1996 may enable Dems to prevent it.