Q&A: Regarding these czars that President Barack Obama has been appointing, who pays their salary, who determines how much they make and are tax dollars involved at all?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Q: Regarding these czars that President Barack Obama has been appointing, who pays their salary, who determines how much they make and are tax dollars involved at all?

— Mike Chisolm, Snellville

A: Obama has appointed nearly three dozen “czars” — an unofficial name for special aide — to oversee policy areas. Their salaries are apparently paid by the White House, funded by taxes. Critics, including U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), say the special aides duplicate duties carried out by Cabinet officers and that their budgets are not subject to congressional oversight. Unlike Cabinet members, the so-called czars don’t undergo Senate confirmation. Obama’s steady creation of the positions was also blasted by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) “As presidential assistants and advisers, these White House staffers are not accountable for their actions to the Congress, to cabinet officials, and to virtually anyone but the president,” Byrd wrote in a February letter to Obama. Kingston has introduced an amendment on an appropriations bill to withhold funding from any czar not confirmed by the Senate. According to a list compiled by Kingston’s staff, posted on his Web site, salaries range from $172,200 for energy czar Carol Browner, terrorism czar John Brennan and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein to $98,000 for faith-based czar Joshua DuBois.

Louis Mayeux prepared this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get an answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail
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