A thought on contractor accountability: rules for hiring and firing currently make it extremely difficult to fire agency staff for matters of performance. By contrast, I gather it is easier to terminate a contractor’s contract. In this scenario, contractors have more direct (but blunt) accountability to agencies than some of agencies’ own staff.
This is a great point. I think the argument about contractor unaccountability becomes more true the more expansive of a role the contractor is given. For instance, I think the FCC's use of the Universal Service Administrative Corporation is just totally indefensible.
If there is one lesson of these times, it seems to me it is that the regulatory agencies should be as little accountable to the President as possible. The bigger lesson though is that the Presidency itself is a deeply flawed idea. No one person should have that much power.
This comes up again and again in US history. Sometimes we feel like the president is too powerful, almost an elected king. Other times, when Congress seems divided and unable to act, people want a more powerful president to take charge and get things done.
Which is not to say that you're wrong! Only that I'm not sure we'll find an enduring solution here. (Short of adopting a parliamentary system?)
I think I might like the Swiss Federal Council more than a parliamentary system. Then of course there's the Haudensaunee approach: 50 chiefs, consensus required.
A thought on contractor accountability: rules for hiring and firing currently make it extremely difficult to fire agency staff for matters of performance. By contrast, I gather it is easier to terminate a contractor’s contract. In this scenario, contractors have more direct (but blunt) accountability to agencies than some of agencies’ own staff.
This is a great point. I think the argument about contractor unaccountability becomes more true the more expansive of a role the contractor is given. For instance, I think the FCC's use of the Universal Service Administrative Corporation is just totally indefensible.
If there is one lesson of these times, it seems to me it is that the regulatory agencies should be as little accountable to the President as possible. The bigger lesson though is that the Presidency itself is a deeply flawed idea. No one person should have that much power.
This comes up again and again in US history. Sometimes we feel like the president is too powerful, almost an elected king. Other times, when Congress seems divided and unable to act, people want a more powerful president to take charge and get things done.
Which is not to say that you're wrong! Only that I'm not sure we'll find an enduring solution here. (Short of adopting a parliamentary system?)
I think I might like the Swiss Federal Council more than a parliamentary system. Then of course there's the Haudensaunee approach: 50 chiefs, consensus required.