My "Find the Scandal" post produced some enlightening feedback. From an EPA employee, I learned that EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, the one under criticism for not deferring to career bureaucrats, is himself the first career bureaucrat to become Administrator of that agency. I'm told, Johnson started his EPA career when Jimmy Carter was President, and was a political appointee under Bill Clinton.

This helps explain, I think, why EPA staffers thought that former administrator Bill Reilly could talk so arrogantly to Johnson (“You have to find a way to get this done. If you cannot, you will face a pretty big personal decision about whether you are able to stay in the job under those circumstances”). Reilly was Johnson's former big boss.

Mark Tapscott also made a nice point about the following passage in the talking points EPA staff prepared for Reilly: “If you are asked to deny this waiver, I fear the credibility of the agency that we both love will be irreparably damaged.” As Mark observes, this is the classic Washington bureaucratic view in which loyalty to one’s agency-employer is placed above loyalty to the democratic process.

Posted by Paul at 8:30 PM  |    |