Thursday, January 14, 2010
When it comes to government programs that provide medical care and inspect food, the White House has been slow to appoint leaders. A year into the Obama administration and the $450-billion Medicare program is without someone to run it, leaving the program that cares for 43 million Americans in the hands of lower-level officials. A similar situation exists in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where five key posts remain vacant, including the vital position of under secretary for food safety.
Some members of Congress have grown impatient with the administration’s delay in appointing a food safety official. The vacancy became even more pressing of an issue after an E. coli outbreak last month in 16 states that affected 21 people and resulted in the recall of 248,000 pounds of beef products.
Other posts at the USDA awaiting nominees are chief financial officer, under secretary for research, education and economics, and administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service. Part of the problem is that President Obama does not want to nominate candidates who have worked as lobbyists for either food companies or consumer groups
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Lack of Medicare Chief is a Strike Against Reform (by David Leonhardt, New York Times)
Empty Agriculture Offices, Including Food Safety, Raise Concerns (by Jerry Hagstrom, Congress Daily)
FSIS Biographies (Food Safety and Inspection Service)
Comments