With Ten Percent of Biden’s Term Gone, Excuse That “It’s Still Early” Is Sounding Stale
Newsletter 86: When will it be acceptable to complain?
Governance
Well over one hundred days into Biden’s presidency, many are starting to worry that the effort to rebuild the crumbling corners of the federal government is not moving fast enough. In the eyes of some political appointees, civil servants, and advocates, material relief needs to follow the administration’s encouraging statements of support for the federal workforce faster. After all, while the imminent threat of retaliation may (mostly) be gone, the protracted problems of understaffing -- the lack of relevant expertise, overwork, fatigue, etc. -- are still around, making federal workers’ jobs more difficult and policy implementation less effective.
Two recent articles, focused on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the State Department, underscore this point. Under Trump, roughly 10 percent of HUD’s workforce left. In some divisions 25 to 30 percent of employees walked out the door. For every day that this continues, the Biden administration’s ability to deliver tangible gains to the public is further limited. At the moment, understaffing threatens the provision of housing-related pandemic relief. If nothing is done, it will surely undermine the progress Biden has promised on housing, a fact Secretary Marcia Fudge has not shied away from. As she emphasized in recent congressional testimony, “Until we can start to build up our staff, and build up our capacity, we are at risk of not doing the things we should do.”
The story is similar at the State Department. Intense retaliation, reorganization, and a hiring freeze led to low morale and an exodus of experienced civil servants. Five months into the new administration and many within the Department see little progress towards filling the holes. With slightly fewer foreign service officers now than when Trump left office, the administration appears not to even have been able to keep up with more recent departures.
Biden’s proposed budget does give agencies the resources to reverse some or all of these losses (although, as we’ve noted in the past, to really give the federal government the ability to deliver for regular people, the administration should be looking to funding levels from 2010 or even earlier). But we’re still months away from seeing the FY 2022 budget passed. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that Congress agrees to funding at the levels Biden has proposed.
This administration cannot afford to wait for new appropriations this Fall to begin the task of rebuilding in earnest. It must be looking for every possible way to bring new people on board now to support immediate and long-term projects. That includes authorizing the use of certain hiring authorities, opening up more internship and fellowship opportunities, improving recruitment, encouraging reprogramming of funds where possible, and reshaping the Office of Personnel Management to be a stronger resource for the whole executive branch. Starting now will not only ensure that progress happens before this fall but that agencies are better positioned to hire at lightning speed once new money does come in.
Personnel
It’s not just civil servants who are starting to worry about this administration’s resolve when it comes to putting ambitious promises into action. Across a wide range of issue areas, many advocates increasingly agree that Biden is not moving with the urgency, nor mounting the fight, required to meet this moment.
Environmental advocates, for example, have been alarmed to see this Justice Department back oil and gas lease sales in Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska and a pipeline in New Jersey. With those moves having shaken confidence in the administration, many are unsure about how the DOJ will respond to a major setback for Biden’s promise to end federal leasing. Last week, a Louisiana District Court Judge ruled that Biden did not have the authority to pause the sale of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and stayed his executive order. Although a key policy is on pause, the administration has yet to appeal.
It’s notable that stories like these are running side-by-side with reports on abundant conflicts of interest among Biden’s latest nominees. This includes (though is certainly not limited to) extensive, recent ties to fossil fuel companies. Newly released financial disclosures indicate that Neil MacBride, the Treasury Department’s next General Counsel, represented Exxon Mobil as a partner at Davis Polk. Meanwhile, Michael Connor, who will lead the office in charge of the Army Corps of Engineers, recently represented a mining operation while at WilmerHale. As our Dorothy Slater detailed last month, the practice group of which Connor was a part has also represented BP, Anadarko, and many chemical companies.
While MacBride and Connor are not responsible for the latest setbacks on climate policy (neither have been confirmed), the two trends -- lackluster action and revolving door hires -- are likely not unrelated. Bold action, after all, requires stepping on corporate America’s toes in a way that is not conducive to future employment in its ranks. Further, when it comes to corruption and public opinion, the exact lines of command almost certainly do not matter. It is enough, in many cases, for the two stories -- “Biden Betrays Climate Promises” and “Biden Hires Oil Company’s Lawyer” -- to run side-by-side for people to start to suspect that the administration may not be acting in their interests. For an administration that has pinned its own success on “helping the shit out of” people, the persistence of juxtapositions like these could prove politically disastrous.
Independent Agencies
Despite our name, we’re game to admit that the revolving door is not the only culprit for inaction. At many independent agencies, protracted vacancies are to blame. Months into the administration, Biden continues to show zero urgency in filling these critical spots, as we detail in our latest update on independent agency nominations.
Democratic majorities have been within reach at many agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, since inauguration day but Biden has yet to even nominate officials for these roles. He is also passing up the opportunity to quickly secure majorities as Republican commissioners’ terms expire. With a timely nomination this spring, for example, Biden could have ensured that a Democratic official was ready to be sworn in within days of the end of Republican Neil Chatterjee’s term on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the end of this month. Instead he delayed and now, just seven days from the end of Chatterjee’s term, a nominee has not yet been sent to the Senate.
Sadly, even after Biden gets around to making these nominations, it will still be several months before officials are confirmed and actually able to start doing their jobs. Rather than simply watching as Republican Senators hold up its nominees over petty grievances or culture war nonsense -- most recently Sen. Rick Scott has decided to delay three DHS nominees’ confirmation until Biden visits the southern border -- the Biden administration should start encouraging the Senate to do away with the arcane procedures that help slow confirmations.
Want more? Check out some of the pieces that we have published or contributed research or thoughts to in the last week:
Biden’s Climate Finance Convening Is Necessarily Incomplete Without Fully-Staffed Agencies
To Ditch DeJoy, Biden Must Replace Ron Bloom
The State of Independent Agency Nominations - Update for Spring 2021
Inside Merrick Garland's Vision Of Justice | On Point
The Political, Legal, and Moral Minefield That Donald Trump Left for Merrick Garland
Biden names Big Tech critic Lina Khan to lead FTC
Investors Ask SEC for More ESG Disclosures as Companies Resist: Analysis
John Bolton’s Memoir Is Dropped as Subject of Federal Lawsuit
A Millennial Economist Helps Power a Tax Evasion ‘Brain Trust’
The Rick Smith Show, June 21st
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