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Bush bypasses Senate for controversial recess appointment |
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President Bush appointed a controversial nominee today to the Office of Management and Budget's top regulatory post.
Bush's recess appointment of Susan E. Dudley, formerly of the industry-affiliated Mercatus Center at George Mason University, comes after objections from Senate Democrats scuttled a vote on the nomination in December, at the end of the 109th Congress.
In the interim, the White House named Dudley as an adviser to OMB's Office of Regulatory and Information Affairs this spring. With today's recess appointment, Dudley will assume the office's top post, administrator, and can serve through the remainder of President Bush's term in office.
OIRA is a powerful but obscure office that formally reviews proposed federal rules and often offers informal advice to agencies before rules are finalized. The office has been run by acting director Steven Aitken for more than a year, since the resignation of former head John Graham.
Environmental and public interest groups strongly opposed the Dudley nomination, arguing that she displayed an anti-regulatory bias during her tenure at the Mercatus Center.
In a statement this afternoon, the Natural Resources Defense Council called Dudley a "radical reactionary" and "an enemy of regulation."
The long-predicted recess appointment shows "blatant disregard for a fair and open process, which the American people deserve," the statement continued.
Dudley has drawn support from colleagues at the Mercatus Center -- including Nobel Prize-winning economist Vernon Smith -- as well as scholars associated with the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies (Greenwire, Jan. 11).
In a statement today, OMB Administrator Rob Portman said Dudley "brings a balanced comprehensive understanding of the regulatory process" and would fill a post that has been vacant for more than a year, since the resignation of former OIRA Administrator Graham.
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