Homeland Security:
No sooner had New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik accepted Bush??¢â???¬â???¢s nomination as Homeland Security secretary than he abruptly withdrew his name from consideration. His public explanation revolved around his supposed discovery last week that he may have employed an illegal alien as a nanny.
1) Kerik??¢â???¬â???¢s public story about the nanny, like much of what he told the administration prior to his nomination, is less than entirely truthful. The White House insists, incredibly, that its vetting of Kerik was thorough. Administration officials said that of all of Kerik??¢â???¬â???¢s embarrassing personal and ethical problems, only the nanny situation was a deal-breaker. This is also not credible.
2) Among the revelations since Kerik??¢â???¬â???¢s withdrawal were embarrassing details of his 1987 bankruptcy. More serious are credible allegations that he conducted simultaneous extramarital affairs with two different women (each without the other??¢â???¬â???¢s knowledge) in a Battery Park love nest and abused his office to benefit one of the women.
3) It is inconceivable that such lurid details, available in public court documents and certainly known to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, went unnoticed when Kerik was considered for the post. Clearly someone dropped the ball on this nomination, capping off an especially bad week for White House advisor Karl Rove.
4) Giuliani was publicly contrite after the Kerik embarrassment, since he had given him a high recommendation. He apologized in person to Bush, but no amount of groveling can erase the damage to his stature as a possible 2008 presidential candidate.
5) The Administration was scrambling to find (and carefully vet) a new candidate as of this writing. Although Sen. Joe Lieberman (D.-Conn.) has been talked about for the position, Bush has no desire to appoint an independent operator. He prefers someone who will toe the administration??¢â???¬â???¢s line and execute policies delineated in advance. This could mean he will go with White House homeland security adviser Fran Townsend, or Homeland Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson.
Health and Human Services:
After a relatively long delay, Bush announced EPA administrator and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to replace Tommy Thompson as HHS Secretary.
1) Leavitt does not completely conform to social-conservatives??¢â???¬â???¢ hopes for HHS-in fact plans are a foot by conservatives to make his confirmation difficult. But they prefer him immensely to the man who seemed the most likely choice: Medicare Administrator Mark McClellan.
2) McClellan, the brother of Bush??¢â???¬â???¢s spokesman Scott, had been considered the shoo-in candidate, but the long lag between Thompson??¢â???¬â???¢s resignation and the decision on his replacement was a tell-tale sign that he had not locked up the nomination. McClellan, the flashy young public face of the new Medicare drug entitlement, had been named early in the Washington press as the heir apparent.
3) The choice of Leavitt could be read as a snub to McClellan, but it remains to be seen whether Bush has something else in mind for him. Bush specifically announced that he wanted McClellan to stay on at Medicare. McClellan??¢â???¬â???¢s aides were too surprised by the Leavitt announcement on Monday to give any certain answers about McClellan??¢â???¬â???¢s future-although they suggested he would stay.
Agriculture:
Bush appointed Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) to replace the outgoing Anne Veneman. Regardless of its impact on the department, the development roils Nebraska??¢â???¬â???¢s political scene for 2006 by eliminating Johanns as a Senate candidate. The choice makes life somewhat easier for Sen. Ben Nelson (D.-Neb.), as Johanns was Nelson??¢â???¬â???¢s most threatening potential 2006 rival.
Simultaneously, Nelson has begun discussions with the conservative Club for Growth on Social Security and tax reform. Nelson could still face a serious Republican challenger, but Johanns, Rep. Tom Osborne, and Rep. Lee Terry have all taken themselves out of the race, leaving only the state??¢â???¬â???¢s Republican Attorney General, John Bruning, and a few minor, unknown potential challengers.
