PROJECT 2025 - PART 6 - WHITE HOUSE OFFICE

BLOG DISCLAIMER

This blog was created as a public service.

It is a Cliff’s Notes version of the actual 900 pages of text found in PROJECT 2025. 

It is not a commentary. 

Most importantly - It DOES NOT reflect my opinion in any way.

THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE 

Rick Dearborn
[Bio from Wikipedia - 25 years on Capitol Hill, including as Chief of Staff for Senator Jeff Sessions. Trump transition team. Helped reverse many Obama regulations. Served in the White House for less than a year.]

            

The Constitution gives the “executive power” to the President. It designates him as “Commander-in-chief, UN quote, and gives him the responsibility to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” It further prescribes that the President might seek the assistance of, “the principal officer in each of the executive departments.” Beginning with George Washington, Every President has been supported by some form of White House office consisting of direct staff officers as well as a cabinet comprised of department and agency heads.

Continues with outline of White House Staff:
1.     Chief of Staff

    a.     Deputy COS for Management and Operations
    b.     Deputy COS for Policy

2.     National Economic Council

3.     Domestic Policy Council - Coordinate the development of policies that promote economic opportunity. Another important area is the promotion of healthcare reform to bring down cost for the American people and the pressure that spending on health program puts on the federal budget. Finally, coordinate with the NSC on a policy agenda to enhance border security.

 
4.     National Security Council - the next administration should try to limit the number of [members] to ensure more direct presidential control.
 
5.     Office of Communications - The communications director must convey the president's mission to the American people. Especially for conservatives, this means navigating the mainstream media to ensure the president's agenda is conveyed effectively and accurately. The new administration should examine the nature of the relationship between itself and the White House Correspondents Association and consider whether an alternative coordinating body might be more suitable.
 
6.     Office of Legislative Affairs
 
7.     Senior Advisors
 
8.     Office of WH Counsel - While the White House Counsel does not serve as the President's personal attorney in non-official matters, it is almost impossible to delineate exactly where an issue is strictly personal and has no bearing on the President's official function.  While previously the White House counsel and attorney general have issued a memo requiring all contacts between the two institutions to occur only between the Office of White House Counsel and Attorney General, the next administration should reexamine this policy and determine whether it might be more efficient or more appropriate for communications to occur through additional channels. To handle the pace and volatility of affairs, the Office of White House Counsel must offer measured legal guidance in a timely manner. This often means forgoing law review style memos about esoteric legal concepts and instead quickly providing high level yet incisive guidance. The candidate for this office with elite credentials might seem ideal, but the best one will be, above all, loyal to the President and the Constitution.
 
9.     Office of Presidential Personnel - One of the most important offices in the White House is the presidential personnel office, which was created under President Nixon to centralize political appointments. Departments and agencies had and still have direct legal authority and hiring and firing, but the power to fill schedule C positions – the core of political jobs – is vested with the president. Therefore, the White House, not the department or agency, has the final word on political appointments. The office for presidential personnel must fill approximately 3000 political jobs that require dedicated conservatives to support the administration's political leadership. It is necessary to ensure that departments and agencies have robust cadres of political staff, just below senior levels in the event of unexpected vacancies.

10. Office of Public Liaison - should have extended extensive experience in private industry, the labor sector, the conservative movement, and among the specific interest groups with which they will be asked to engage on behalf of the White House.

11. Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Stay tuned for Part 7 - The Executive Office of the President

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