Representative Jack Kingston

Better Know a Czar

[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. - Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution

The Obama Administration is increasingly relying on special appointments to advance his agenda thus bypassing the Congress and Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution which entrusts the U.S. Senate to advise and provide consent on excutive nominations.

These figures are given power over important policy areas and are often duplicative of Senate-confirmed cabinet members who are already entrusted with directing the Administration's agenda. There is so little transparency over these appointments that it is hard to determine exactly how many there actually are.

It's time for real accountability in Washington. I'm committed to ensuring these czars are put through the constitutionally-mandated process by which we review executive appointments and have offered legislation that would withhold funding from any czar unless they are confirmed by the Senate.

Opinion Pieces

Jul 27 - Who czar they?
President Obama’s czars leave more questions than answers
In its day, czarist Russia had just 18 czars in 300 years. In just seven months, President Obama has nearly doubled that number. At this rate, we’ll have 272 czars by 2012. Read more...

Releases

Jul 15 - KINGSTON CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY IN PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS
Congressman introduces legislation to require Senate confirmation of czars
Since being sworn in, President Obama has appointed as many as 34 czars to oversee and implement a wide array of his agenda ranging from the automobile industry to global warming to the Great Lakes. With a salary of up to $172,000 in addition to staff, office and travel budgets, Congressman Jack Kingston (R/GA-1) sees the appointments as a growing problem costing taxpayers millions.

Resources

The "CZAR Act"
- This is the legislation I offered to address this issue.
Better Know a Czar This document, compiled by my staff, contains a list of "czars" and more information on their post. It will be updated as more is learned about each one.
Amendment to Financial Services & General Government Appropriations Bill
- I offered this amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill to bring more transparency to the process of presidentially-appoitned czars. It would withhold funding from any czar unless they are confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Czar Press Conference
On Wednesday, September 16, I hosted a press conference with a number of other members concerned about this issue. Below you will find pictures and video from that event.