Given the fact that former FEMA Director Michael Brown had serious resume problems, and the fact that a high-level ex-OMB official is now in federal custody, one has to wonder about the wisdom of the following (granting that the OMB situation is a recent development)–(via WaPo): Immigration Nominee’s Credentials Questioned
The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.The push to appoint Julie Myers to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, comes in the midst of intense debate over the qualifications of department political appointees involved in the sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.
Concerns over Myers, 36, were acute enough at a Senate hearing last week that lawmakers asked the nominee to detail during her testimony her postings and to account for her management experience. Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) went so far as to tell Myers that her résumé indicates she is not qualified for the job.
[...]
After working as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, N.Y., for two years, Myers held a variety of jobs over the past four years at the White House and at the departments of Commerce, Justice and Treasury, though none involved managing a large bureaucracy. Myers worked briefly as chief of staff to Michael Chertoff when he led the Justice Department’s criminal division before he became Homeland Security secretary.
Myers also was an associate under independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr for about 16 months and has most recently served as a special assistant to President Bush handling personnel issues.
Her uncle is Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She married Chertoff’s current chief of staff, John F. Wood, on Saturday.
Not to draw conclusions regarding uncles and husbands, but I have to say, this doesn’t sound good when coupled with resume questions.
And, for the record, the story does note that Voinovich has met with Myers and is probably going to support her.
Still, there appear to be serious questions here:
Unlike most political appointments, the head of ICE is required by statute to have at least five years of experience in both law enforcement and management.Many immigration advocates, ICE employee representatives and homeland security experts said they were troubled by the nomination of Myers to take over an agency with so many problems.
Really, given the alleged importance of the Department of Homeland Security, shouldn’t the administration be working a tad harder to find deeply qualified persons, rather than questionably qualified (if not, in Brown’s case, unqualified) persons to fill these slots?
h/t: Captain Ed.
Update: Scott Gosnell has noticed this problem, as have others.
Sphere: Related Content
September 20th, 2005 at 10:24 pm
Ahhhhhhhhh! Politics makes me want to go nuts. I am so sick of it. I quit!
September 21st, 2005 at 8:36 am
Julie Myers As Head Of ICE, Bloggers Reaction
Bloggers across the Blogosphere — left, right and center — are teeing off on the Bush administration’s nomination of Julie Myers to be the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As I reported on Sep 18 Senator…
September 21st, 2005 at 12:25 pm
Good to see a broad based surge against obvious cronyism in the Bush admin. About damned time. Not that they’re unique in that way. At least find a reasonably qualified political toady to head an important and troubled agency. This stuff has real-world consequences as Katrina amply demonstrated to the world. A good question is why aren’t the same statutory qualifications applied to all the major appointments involving heading a large federal bureaucracy?
September 21st, 2005 at 12:53 pm
[...] eans - New York Times
More Bush Appointee Politics
From: PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » More Bush Appointee Politics Good to see some pressure coming for [...]
September 21st, 2005 at 12:54 pm
Probably because in most cases there are no substantial statutory qualifications.
And yes, the whole thing is quite troubling.
September 21st, 2005 at 1:07 pm
Yeah, this is really troubling.
I mean, think about what could have happened had a person who did not have years of experience in the current awesomely effective system of immigration and customs been appointed!
September 21st, 2005 at 5:13 pm
Julie Myers - More Bush Cronyism
When Michelle Malkin and Maureen Dowd agree on something, it’s worth understanding. The Bush administration is seeking to appoint Julie Myers to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, part of the Department of Homeland S…