Patronage At FEMA

“To the victors belong the spoils,” asserted Senator William Marcy, a Jacksonian Democrat from New York, during a congressional debate about the justification of the spoils system in 1831. At that time, the use of patronage by incumbents had become widely entrenched on all levels of government.

By allowing politicians with executive powers to appoint relatives, backers, and friends to high positions regardless of their qualifications, the spoils system became the main cause for incompetence and corruption in government. The abuses of the spoils system led Congress in 1882 to pass the Pendleton Act that established the merit system of the Civil Service. It required candidates for federal jobs to be chosen primarily for their performance on competitive examinations. Today roughly 80 percent of all federal employees are appointed on their merits but the other 20 percent remain open to presidential patronage.

A closer look at President Bush’s appointees for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reveals how careless patronage appointments can lead to dire consequences.

When Bush was governor of Texas, he had a chief of staff named Joe Allbaugh who had been Oklahoma’s deputy secretary of transportation. When the governor launched his campaign for the presidency, he appointed three confidantes as his top aides: Karl Rove as his strategist, Karen Hughes as his spokeswoman, and Joe Allbaugh as his chief of staff.

Once elected, Bush asked Hughes and Rove to assist him in the White House while he rewarded Allbaugh with the top position at FEMA. Joe was to coordinate all federal disaster relief activities including the response and recovery operations of 28 federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversaw the National Flood Insurance Program, the U.S. Fire Administration, and an operating budget of $3 billion and approximate 2,500 employees.

When FEMA director Allbaugh testified before a Senate subcommittee in 2001, he expressed concern that “federal disaster assistance may have evolved into an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective state and local risk management. Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level.” When four years later Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, however, federal involvement proved to be woefully insufficient.

For the position of FEMA’s general counsel, Allbaugh brought in his friend Michael Brown who since 1991 had gained experience as supervisor of horse judges with the Arabian Hose Association. In March 2003, after Allbaugh’s wife had become a lobbyist for utilities, Allbaugh left FEMA for greener pastures: as chief of the Allbaugh Company for corporate strategy counseling--serving clients such as Haliburton.

President Bush promptly nominated Michael Brown to head FEMA. He was reassured by Allbaugh’s testimony: "The President couldn't have chosen a better man to help prepare and protect the nation." After all, Brown’s official ré sumé stated that from 1975 to 1978 he had worked for the City of Edmond, Oklahoma, as overseer of emergency services. Today, the President knows that Allbaugh did not adequately prepare FEMA and Brown was incapable of leading the agency to respond effectively to the unprecedented Katrina disaster.

Other FEMA officials were not any better suited for their positions than Brown. His chief of staff, Patrick Rohde, had been a television reporter before he came to Washington as advance deputy director for the President’s Austin-based campaign in 2000. FEMA’s deputy chief of staff, Brooks Altshuler, also had worked as presidential advance man. .His predecessor, Scott Morris, was a media strategist for Bush. The director of FEMA’s Recovery Division, Daniel Craig, had served as a political fundraiser and campaign adviser and came to the agency from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he directed the eastern regional office, after working as a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

All of these members of FEMA’s recent management were loyal Bush supporters but novices to the work for which they were hired. “You’ve got to have people at the top who respond to and are selected by presidents,” Vice President Cheney explained while visiting a disaster site, “and you pick the best people you can to do the jobs that need to be done.”

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	09-18-05
Patronage At FEMA
“To the victors belong the spoils,” asserted Senator William Marcy, a Jacksonian Democrat from New York, during a congressional debate about the justification of the spoils system in 1831. At that time, the use of patronage by incumbents had become widely entrenched on all levels of government. By allowing politicians with executive powers to appoint relatives, backers, and friends to high positions regardless of their qualifications, the spoils system became the main cause for incompetence and corruption in government. The abuses of the spoils system led Congress in 1882 to pass the Pendleton Act that established the merit system of the Civil Service. It required candidates for federal jobs to be chosen primarily for their performance on competitive examinations. Today roughly 80 percent of all federal employees are appointed on their merits but the other 20 percent remain open to presidential patronage. A closer look at President Bush’s appointees for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reveals how careless patronage appointments can lead to dire consequences. When Bush was governor of Texas, he had a chief of staff named Joe Allbaugh who had been Oklahoma’s deputy secretary of transportation. When the governor launched his campaign for the presidency, he appointed three confidantes as his top aides: Karl Rove as his strategist, Karen Hughes as his spokeswoman, and Joe Allbaugh as his chief of staff. Once elected, Bush asked Hughes and Rove to assist him in the White House while he rewarded Allbaugh with the top position at FEMA. Joe was to coordinate all federal disaster relief activities including the response and recovery operations of 28 federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversaw the National Flood Insurance Program, the U.S. Fire Administration, and an operating budget of $3 billion and approximate 2,500 employees. When FEMA director Allbaugh testified before a Senate subcommittee in 2001, he expressed concern that “federal disaster assistance may have evolved into an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective state and local risk management. Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level.” When four years later Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, however, federal involvement proved to be woefully insufficient. For the position of FEMA’s general counsel, Allbaugh brought in his friend Michael Brown who since 1991 had gained experience as supervisor of horse judges with the Arabian Hose Association. In March 2003, after Allbaugh’s wife had become a lobbyist for utilities, Allbaugh left FEMA for greener pastures: as chief of the Allbaugh Company for corporate strategy counseling--serving clients such as Haliburton. President Bush promptly nominated Michael Brown to head FEMA. He was reassured by Allbaugh’s testimony: "The President couldn't have chosen a better man to help prepare and protect the nation." After all, Brown’s official ré sumé stated that from 1975 to 1978 he had worked for the City of Edmond, Oklahoma, as overseer of emergency services. Today, the President knows that Allbaugh did not adequately prepare FEMA and Brown was incapable of leading the agency to respond effectively to the unprecedented Katrina disaster. Other FEMA officials were not any better suited for their positions than Brown. His chief of staff, Patrick Rohde, had been a television reporter before he came to Washington as advance deputy director for the President’s Austin-based campaign in 2000. FEMA’s deputy chief of staff, Brooks Altshuler, also had worked as presidential advance man. .His predecessor, Scott Morris, was a media strategist for Bush. The director of FEMA’s Recovery Division, Daniel Craig, had served as a political fundraiser and campaign adviser and came to the agency from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he directed the eastern regional office, after working as a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. All of these members of FEMA’s recent management were loyal Bush supporters but novices to the work for which they were hired. “You’ve got to have people at the top who respond to and are selected by presidents,” Vice President Cheney explained while visiting a disaster site, “and you pick the best people you can to do the jobs that need to be done.”

Wolf D. Fuhrig

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09-18-05

Patronage At FEMA