Pro & Con: Should presidential advisers, or czars, be subject 
to congressional confirmation?

YES

By Jack Kingston

Czarist Russia had 18 czars in 300 years. Since taking office, President Obama has nearly doubled that number. Unlike Cabinet secretaries, judges and hundreds of other presidential appointments, these czars have bypassed Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which mandates the advice and consent of the Senate when presidents appoint principle officers.

Most czars make $172,000, have an office, staff, transportation and travel budgets. Having these czars come before the Senate for confirmation hearings would bring transparency and accountability. Cabinet secretaries sit before House and Senate Committees to ask for and justify their budget. But not these czars, not one has come before Congress.

The president has the right to pick his own team, but I also believe in the balance of power. The legislative branch must exercise its constitutional authority to vet these czars and review their budgets. The president can have all the czars he wants, but let’s have transparency, accountability and balance.

Jack Kingston is a 
U.S. Representative 
(R-Savannah)

NO

By Robert Gibbs

There are positions in the administration, there are positions in the previous administration. I think these are positions that date back at least to many, many administrations where there may be policy coordination between many different departments in order to make governmental responses more efficient. I’m struck by a little of the politics in this. ... I noticed ... they asked one of the House Republicans, Darrell Issa, whether he objected to the so-called czars in the previous administration. His answer was, “No, we didn’t.”... I think it’s been somewhat remarkable that in previous administrations so-called criticism of this ... the silence has been deafening, only to have it come around as a political issue now. I think what the American people would like every branch of government to do is get about dealing with the problems that real people have each and every day rather than playing political games back and forth, day after day, and not solving or addressing their problems.

Robert Gibbs is White House 
press secretary.