Obama’s Toothless Team Of Rivals

REPORT: OBAMA’S CABINET IS SEEN AS A “NUISANCE” TO BE DEALT WITH BY HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF

Obama Has Taken “Hoarding Power In The White House At The Expense Of The Cabinet… To An Extreme.” “For any modern president, the advantages of hoarding power in the White House at the expense of the Cabinet are obvious—from more efficient internal communication and better control of external messaging to avoiding messy confirmation battles and protecting against pesky congressional subpoenas. But over the course of his five years in office, Obama has taken this White House tendency to an extreme, according to more than 50 interviews with current and former secretaries, White House staffers and executive branch officials, who described his Cabinet as a restless nest of ambition, fits-and-starts achievement and power-jockeying under a shadow of unfulfilled promise.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)   

• “The Staffers Who Rule Obama’s West Wing Often Treat His Cabinet As A Nuisance.”  “The staffers who rule Obama’s West Wing often treat his Cabinet as a nuisance: At the top of the pecking order are the celebrity power players, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to be warily managed; at the bottom, what they see as a bunch of well-intentioned political naifs only a lip-slip away from derailing the president’s agenda. Chu might have been the first Obama Cabinet secretary to earn the disdain of White House aides, but he was hardly the last.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)  
   
•  “Never Has The Job Of Cabinet Secretary Seemed Smaller,” Than In Obama’s White House. “Two presidents later, the Cabinet is a swarm of 23 people that includes 15 secretaries and eight other Cabinet-rank officers. And yet never has the job of Cabinet secretary seemed smaller.” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)    

The Reality Of Obama’s Cabinet Is A “Far Cry From The Vision Obama Sketched Out In The Months Leading Up To His 2008 Election.” “That’s a far cry from the vision Obama sketched out in the months leading up to his 2008 election. Back then, he waxed expansive about the Cabinet, promising to rejuvenate the institution as a venue for serious innovation and genuine decision making. ‘I don’t want to have people who just agree with me,’ he told Time magazine, after reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s classic account of President Abraham Lincoln and his advisers, Team of Rivals. ‘I want people who are continually pushing me out of my comfort zone.’” (Glenn Thrush, “Locked In The Cabinet,” Politico Magazine, 11/14/13)   

Via: GOP.com

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