Among the many things that have changed in Washington since Barack Obama took over is the overwhelming “czaring” of key confidantes and power-brokers to the president.
The czars of imperial Russia were unelected emperors who ruled without oversight. So what is their role in a democratic country?
Well, in a way, they are the same thing – presidential appointees who are not required to go before Congress for approval.
The Obama press office sternly pushes back on the “czar” title, noting that it is not an internal word used to describe personnel, urging the press to be cautious and clear, and saying that it is “you folks” – reporters – who call them czars, not the White House.
Czars have been used since FDR persuaded Jimmy Byrnes to leave the U.S. Supreme Court to become head of the Office of Economic Stabilization. It’s just that most administrations haven’t used as many as Obama has so far.
Right now, 21 or so “special assistants” have been hand-picked by the president and don’t need Senate approval.
We have a car czar, an energy czar, an urban czar, a TARP czar. We also have a drug czar, a stimulus-accountability czar, a regulatory czar, a terrorism czar – and, yes, even a Guantanamo Bay-closure czar. There are about 12 more, but you get the picture.
The problem with czars, no matter who sits in the White House, is that Congress has no way to hold them accountable. As Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., said, they can threaten our constitutional system of checks and balances.
Professor Patrick Wolf finds it quite strange that so many high-ranking administrators in the Obama administration have been characterized by the president or the press as czars.
“Why would we, in America, willfully promote such a title for many of our federal officials,” asks Wolf, a University of Arkansas political science professor.
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