Legislator seeks cap on political appointees

The number of presidential appointees would be limited to 2,000 under a bill introduced recently by Rep. Bill Luther, D-Minn. "In the new administration there is nobody currently filling these positions, so if we can put a cap on it right now it would be easier to manage administratively," said Bill Burton, spokesman for Luther. Luther introduced a bill similar to H.R. 127 back in 1995, where it won approval by the House but died in the Senate. Luther introduced the bill again in the 105th and 106th congresses, but the bill failed to pass both times. From 1960 to 1992, the number of political appointees skyrocketed by 430 percent, according to Paul Light, vice president and director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution. Now, the President appoints people to nearly 3,500 positions, a thousand of which are subject to Senate confirmation. Luther's bill would reduce that number. As a result, the number of confirmation hearings required during presidential transitions would be reduced. A 1996 report by the Congressional Budget Office projected that the number of political appointees would average about 2,700 over the next six years. In its report, CBO found that capping the number of political appointees at 2,000 would produce a savings of $392 million over a five-year period. At least one scholar thinks there should be more political appointees in the federal government.

In a recent report, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Moffitt urged President Bush to quickly establish control over the bureaucracy by bringing in his own political appointees. According to Moffitt, greater use of presidential appointees would allow Bush to establish control of the executive branch and ensure the success of his policy agenda. If passed into law, Luther's bill would not take effect until Sept. 30, 2002.