US revision: Obama’s executive office

It is well known that the executive office of the president (EOP or EXOP) is more important and powerful than the Cabinet. What evidence is there of this being the case in the current administration?

Obama has put together a so called Cabint of the stars, yet he still relies on his EOP to drive forward much of his agenda. Presidents often look more to their EOP than Cabinet because of their proximity to the President, their greater loyalty and because there is less chance that they will go native.

A key plank of Obama’s election campaign was health care reform, and once in office he wasted little time in establishing a new office of health reform in the White House. The office will be responsible for working with executive branch agencies, state and local officials, and Congress to enact health reform legislation, as well as overseeing implementation of policy changes (“44,” Washington Post, 4/8). According to the order, the office will “provide leadership to the executive branch in establishing policies, priorities, and objectives for the federal government’s comprehensive effort to improve access to health care, the quality of such care, and the sustainability of the health care system.” The new office will work closely with Kathleen Sebelius at Health, but the creation of a new office in the White House indicates that this is where Obama expects to drive the health reform agenda.

Further evidence of the importance attached to EOP members came from the New York Times earlier this month, which reported on how much influence lawrence Summers had over economic policy. Summers controls Obama’s daily economic briefings and is the only economic adviser with a West Wing office. The implication of this set up is that Summers is reputed to have more influence than the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.