Newly minted President Barack Obama has made no mystery of the fact that he intends to implement some of the most dramatic policy changes since FDR’s New Deal. But he won’t be able to do it alone.
I’m not going to lie — much of what I know about the presidential Cabinet and senior staff, I learned from The West Wing. And while Jed Bartlet’s Cabinet does make for good TV, perhaps it would be prudent to ground myself a bit more in the real world.
Fun fact: Every member of the United States Cabinet is known as a “secretary” except for the attorney general.
Confirmation problems: The most famous – and, in some circles, controversial – member of Obama’s Cabinet, Clinton has already faced obstacles in the process of her nomination and confirmation, namely the potential conflict of interest between her new post and Bill’s business deals.
Job description: As the highest-ranking Cabinet member, the secretary of state heads the Department of State, which could basically be called the U.S. Foreign Affairs Department. Duties include negotiating with foreign representatives and providing coordination and supervision of non-military, interdepartmental activities of the U.S. government abroad. The secretary of state also acts as the principal foreign policy adviser to the president.
Immediate issues for this administration: Reconstructing the reputation of the United States around the world, pursuing peace in the Middle East, rebuilding the nuclear pact with North Korea, and tempering the tension between India and Pakistan.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: The beauty pageant chicks had it right: it’s all about world peace. Plus, if you ever want to go on study abroad and not have people throw food at you in every country, you might appreciate a boost in America’s reputation abroad.
Confirmation problems: Geithner’s confirmation made headlines when he acknowledged not having paid Social Security and Medicare taxes for several years. He also failed to maintain the immigration status of a housekeeper that worked for him. These issues prompted a delay on his committee hearings, but the committee eventually voted in his favor.
Job description: The secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic adviser to the president and is responsible for recommending both domestic and international financial, economic and tax policy. The Treasury secretary is also in charge of monitoring the national debt.
Fun fact: The Department of the Treasury used to administer certain programs of national security and defense, including Customs Service and the Secret Service. Those duties were shifted to the Department of Homeland Security upon its creation in 2003.
Immediate issues for this administration: Pulling the country out of recession and stabilizing the economy.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: Want a job when you graduate? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Confirmation problems: None; since he’s a returning member, he does not have to be re-confirmed by the Senate.
Job description: The secretary of defense advises the president on the armed services and military, and the two of them together constitute the National Command Authority, which has the sole authority to launch strategic nuclear weapons; both must agree before a nuclear strike by the U.S. may be ordered. By law, the secretary of defense must be a civilian who hasn’t served actively in the armed forces for at least 10 years.
Fun fact: In 1947, the position of “secretary of war” was divided in three – secretary of the navy, secretary of the air force, and secretary of the army – and all were put under a Cabinet-level secretary of defense.
Immediate issues for this administration: Ending the war in Iraq by transferring power back to the Iraqis.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: If you’ve ever known anyone who has done a tour of duty in Iraq, you probably owe it to them to care about how this conflict is going to end.
Confirmation problems: Holder has been the most challenged member of Obama’s Cabinet. In particular, he was questioned about and criticized regarding his involvement in Clinton’s controversial pardon of Marc Rich and clemency to a group of Puerto Rican nationalists during his time as deputy attorney general.
Job description: The attorney general is both the president’s legal affairs adviser (death penalty, pardons, etc.) as well as the nation’s top law enforcement officer; he or she is considered the chief lawyer of the federal government. The attorney general also traditionally represents the U.S. government in cases before the Supreme Court, though today they only appear on behalf of matters of “exceptional gravity or importance.”
Fun fact: The plural of “attorney general” is “attorneys general.”
Immediate issues for this administration: The closing of Guantanamo Bay.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: Again, the whole international reputation thing. I mean seriously, we really don’t want to be those dudes that torture people. Plus, his opposition to the death penalty will make for an interesting dynamic at the Justice Department over the next four years.
Confirmation problems: None.
Job description: The secretary of the interior is concerned with issues of managing and conserving public lands, including the national parks, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. (The Bureau of Indian Affairs is housed within the Interior Department.) His department oversees agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey and the National Park Service.
Fun fact: Because the policies of the Interior Department tend to heavily impact western states, the secretary of the interior is usually from a western state.
Immediate issues for this administration: Finding a way to finance the many public lands and national park projects that have stalled due to lack of funding.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: National parks are a great place to relax after a terrifying final. Wouldn’t it be sad if they were all full of trash and dilapidated infrastructure?
Confirmation problems: None, although there were reports of some organic food organizations circling petitions protesting Vilsack’s support of genetically modified food. Despite this opposition, Vilsack was confirmed on the same day Obama was inaugurated.
Job description: The secretary of agriculture leads the USDA in developing and executing policy on farming, agriculture and food. The department administers the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, as well as the national Food Stamp Program. The secretary is the president’s main adviser on issues relating to this field, including recommending policy in the interests of farmers, ranchers, and consumers alike.
Fun fact: The U.S. produces over 40 percent of the world’s corn.
Immediate issues for this administration: Address and begin to alleviate the effects of the recession, including bankrupt farmers and the battered agriculture industry, and the sharp increase in demand for food assistance programs. Address child nutrition and hunger, which both he and Obama have made a priority for the next four years. Finally, the USDA and Vilsack will be involved in energy policy decisions, specifically as they apply to ethanol and other biofuels, for which both he and Obama are advocates.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: The prices of the stuff you buy at the store everyday – eggs, milk, beer – are determined by policy set by the USDA. Plus, if you don’t actually manage to get a job when you graduate, you’re going to need food stamps.
Job description: The commerce secretary is a lead adviser to the president on issues of foreign and domestic commerce. The department is also in charge of issuing patents and trademarks, helping to set industrial standards, and collecting important economic and demographic data, such as the decennial census.
Fun fact: Until 1913, the jobs of the labor secretary and the commerce secretary were combined under one post.
Immediate issues for this administration: Administratively, the next secretary has his work cut out for him; the department oversees 10 bureaus with 10 separate cultures and (arguably too small) operating budgets. Also, the 2010 decennial census is coming up, and the system is far from perfect.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: The demographic information gathered by the census is used as the foundational information for how to divvy up tens of billions of dollars of the federal budget among a number of federal programs, so… yeah, accuracy might be kind of important.
Confirmation problems: GOP committee members were frustrated with her “non-answers” during her committee confirmation hearing, leading them to threaten put a hold on her nomination. But with at least 58 Democrats (including Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT)) in the Senate, it’s likely she’ll get confirmed eventually.
Job description: The secretary of labor advises the president on laws involving unions and the workplace, including the relationship between businesses and workers. Issues dealt with by the department include: occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, and re-employment services (such as worker training).
Fun fact: Six women have served as the secretary of labor, which is more than any other Cabinet position.
Immediate issues for this administration: Keeping the American auto industry afloat and negotiating the card-check issue, which is a contentious subject with Republican members of Congress. She has also voiced her intentions to raise the wages and retirement benefits for workers.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: If you ever want to be able to buy an American car again – don’t lie, you know you’ve been eyeing that 2009 PT Cruiser – then you might want to pay attention to this whole auto bailout business and the connection to the American auto workers union.
Confirmation problems: Daschle’s tax records are being scrutinized closely, which has slowed the progress of his confirmation, but no signs of impropriety have been found.
Job description: The health and human services secretary advises the president on issues of health and welfare. The department runs a number of health-related agencies, including the FDA and the NIH.
Fun Fact: The first secretary of health and human services was Patricia Roberts Harris, who was also the first African-American woman to hold a Cabinet post.
Immediate issues for this administration: Behind the economy and national security, health care reform is the biggest and most urgent issue facing Obama’s administration; a clear vision for the future is needed and has yet to be fully articulated on any side of the aisle.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: About 18 percent of the U.S. population is without health insurance. The future of the health care system depends on what is done now, so if you want to retire with a full set of teeth and both hips intact, and thus make all of us back at Northwestern very proud of you, pay attention to the debate.
Confirmation problems: None.
Job description: The HUD secretary advises the president on issues relating to urban housing and oversees the department’s administration of a number of housing programs such as the Federal Housing Administration.
Fun fact: The Department of Housing and Urban Development is known as “HUD.”
Immediate issues for this administration: Scale back the mortgage crisis and promote affordable housing, especially in urban centers.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: Rent is a bitch, especially in the city.
Confirmation problems: LaHood was found to have close ties to a Republican power broker indicted in the Blagojevich pay-to-play scandal.
Job description: The transportation secretary advises the president in issues of – you guessed it – transportation, including things like aviation standards and shipping regulations. The department houses a number of agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fun fact: LaHood is a close friend of new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Immediate issues for this administration: The biggest overhaul of U.S. transportation policy since Eisenhower: The Obama administration plans on spearheading a multibillion-dollar plan to create millions of jobs by rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges and rail systems.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: The CTA raised El fares again, and damn it if a plane didn’t land in a river recently. Okay, those things have little to do with the work of the transportation secretary, but seriously, that shit is bananas. In reality, though, it’s in your best interest to keep the Department of Transportation agencies like the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration up and running smoothly.
Confirmation problems: None; in fact, he was confirmed the same day Obama was inaugurated.
Job description: The secretary of energy is responsible for advising the president on energy policy, including nuclear safety. The department is charged with the nation’s nuclear weapons program, radioactive waste disposal, energy-related research and domestic energy production and conservation. The Department of Energy also sponsors more basic and applied scientific research than any other federal agency.
Fun fact: Chu is also the first Nobel Prize winner to be appointed to a Cabinet position.
Immediate issues for this administration: Obama’s energy team – including Chu and energy heavyweights Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson, and Nancy Sutley – are expected to usher in dramatic change in the way the U.S. approaches climate change, energy efficiency and the development of cleaner fuels. For one thing, they’ll recognize that global warming really does exist and, you know, hopefully try to do something about it.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: Maybe Chu will finally convince you, once and for all, that global warming really does exist. (Or maybe not.)
Confirmation problems: None; along with seven others, Duncan was approved on the same day as Obama’s inauguration. In fact, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told Duncan he was the “best” of Obama’s “several distinguished Cabinet appointments.”
Job description: The secretary of education advises the president on issues of education in America.
Fun fact: With just 5,000 employees, the Education Department is the smallest Cabinet-level department.
Immediate issues for this administration:
Despite our best – well, mediocre, or possibly even epically bad – efforts, American children are falling behind in every sense. Public education is in big trouble, and Duncan definitely has a lot to deal with.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: A shiny degree from Northwestern may not mean as much for you or future generations of overachievers if the entire American standard of education is lowered beyond its current (embarrassing) state.
Confirmation problems: None; he was confirmed on Inauguration Day.
Job description: The secretary of veterans affairs advises the president on issues of veterans benefits and is responsible for the department that administers benefits to veterans and their survivors. Services covered by the department include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits.
Fun fact: The Department of Veterans Affairs is the fourth-largest federal government department behind the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.
Immediate issues for this administration: Addressing and correcting the problem of the staggeringly high number of unemployed and homeless veterans as well as modernizing the currently inefficient system, especially in the area of veteran disability claims.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: Veterans served our country. Show some respect.
Confirmation problems: None; Napolitano was approved on Inauguration Day.
Job description: Created in 2002 as a response to the attacks of Sept. 11, the Department of Homeland Security is charged with protecting the U.S. from terrorist attacks from the civilian sector (as opposed to the Department of Defense, which oversees military operations) and responding to natural disasters. As part of the job description, the department oversees the TSA, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, FEMA, and a number of programs and agencies dealing with immigration.
Fun fact: The creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 was the biggest reorganization of government in American history, moving 22 agencies under the purview of the new department.
Immediate issues for this administration: Evaluating and possibly reorganizing or exporting FEMA to another department. Napolitano will also have to address both the REAL ID Program and the half-built fence on the border of the U.S. and Mexico, both issues she opposes and that fall under the jurisdiction of her department.
How this affects you, the average Northwestern student: You should care about FEMA because of Hurricane Katrina. You should care about the Transportation Security Administration because of the threat of terrorist attacks. And you should care about the Secret Service because we just elected a president who has been receiving death threats regularly since 2007.
Very well-done
Brian Rosenthal
January 27, 2009 at 12:30 am
this is funny and educational- you should be a teacher
laura
January 27, 2009 at 2:27 pm
“If you’ve ever known anyone who has done a tour of duty in Iraq, you probably owe it to them to care about how this conflict is going to end.”
I’d say you owe it to them just as much if you don’t know them. Great article, though!
Sajid
January 27, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Great job! Plus you quoted both me and Gwen Stefani, which is awesome!
Lara
January 27, 2009 at 11:40 pm