'Heavily Engaged in Management'

There's a very interesting quote from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Charlie Clark's story on new regulatory and management reforms at the department:

USDA historically was set up with the secretary as the spokesman, but management was done at the department level. I'm heavily engaged in management. And the reason is, we're facing historically challenging times in the budget.

That about says it all, doesn't it? Now, more than ever, the people who run federal departments and agencies must focus on management. Making government work under extremely tight budgetary conditions demands it. And that means that whoever controls the executive branch, decisions about who gets politically appointed positions to run agencies must be made largely on the basis of management ability. It's a lot more important than political skill, or even policy expertise.