Even as President Barack Obama gears up for a spirited, albeit uphill, battle for re-election, his administration has been witnessing a steady attrition in recent times with top officials quitting at periodic intervals. The Obama White House, which has just begun its fourth year, has changed a great deal with the departure of so many key officials for one reason or another over the past year or so. If some went back to the academic world, others switched to lucrative private sector positions.
Recently, no less a person than Obama’s Chief of Staff William Daley put in his papers within just a year of taking over. Obama’s first Chief of Staff and fellow-Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel left after serving for 20 months as he wanted to run for Mayor of Chicago. Peter Rouse then took over as interim chief for a couple of months, paving the way for Daley, who is set to be succeeded by Jacob Lew, at present director of the Office of Management and Budget. Earlier, National Security Advisor James Jones left and was succeeded by Thomas Donilon. Robert Gibbs, the White House’s public face and long-time Obama spokesman, also left a year ago, with Jay Carney succeeding as Press Secretary. Gibbs, however, is back as “strategic consultant” for Obama’s re-election campaign.
Three of Obama’s four principals from his original economic team are gone over the past year or so. Larry Summers, who quit as director of Obama’s National Economic Council and returned to Harvard, was replaced by Gene B Sperling. Christina Roemer, who resigned as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers and returned to University of California-Berkeley, was succeeded by Austan Goolsbee. And budget director Peter Orszag left to take a job with Citigroup.
President Obama has the distinction of appointing the most number of Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration. But some of these officials have also quit. They include Aneesh Chopra, the US Government’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer; Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer; Suresh Kumar, Assistant Secretary for Commerce and Director General for the US and Foreign Commercial Service; and Richard Verma, Assistant Secretary of State.
In the event of Obama’s re-election, his Cabinet itself could see significant changes. Hillary Clinton, a hyper-active and dynamic Secretary of State, has said time and again that she will be returning to private life at the end of Obama’s first term. The subject came up once again last week during a town hall meeting with State Department employees last week, prompting her to reply: “I have made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur (if Obama wins re-election).” She went on to remark: “I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am.” Another top Cabinet colleague who is unlikely to stay on for a second Obama term is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who dealt with the issue a little differently, remarking in a TV interview: “He’s not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident. I’m confident he’ll be President. But I’m also confident he’s going to have the privilege of having another secretary of the Treasury.” As the only remaining top official of Obama’s original economic team, Geithner had considered leaving last August, but Obama had asked him to stay on.
DIFFERENT STROKES
In the US, right-to work does not refer to one’s right to employment. It refers to a law that allows a person to work at a place of employment without being forced to join a labour union as a condition of employment. So, the right-to-work in the US is viewed negatively by workers as an anti-union measure, aimed at curtailing union rights and weakening collective bargaining. It’s more about an individual worker’s right to work without having to join a labour union. Under the right-to-work laws, companies can’t negotiate a contract with a union that requires non-members to pay fees for representation — something that the unions find irksome.
Given this backdrop, right-to-work is a highly contentious issue in the US — as was seen this week in Indiana, which became the 23rd State in the country but the first in the nation’s “rust belt” to embrace right-to-work. Protests and rallies by workers marked the adoption of the right-to-work statute, while trade and industry were quick to welcome the measure. Indiana’s Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and supporters argue that the adoption of this statute will help Indiana attract jobs. As Daniels put it, “Indiana will improve still further its recently earned reputation as one of America’s best places to do business, and we will see more jobs and opportunity for our young people and for all those looking for a better life.”
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