Vetting Process Out Of Control

Further to my commentary of a month ago in which I rued the revolving door between lobbying and officialdom, I have now come to believe that the vetting system for presidential nominees is out of control and can deprive the nation of qualified public servants.

It has become almost routine to fasten on suspicions as soon as the name of a prospective nominee surfaces. On one page of The New York Times this week, there were two headlines: One read, "Obama taps health aide with links to industry." That refers to Nancy-Ann DeParle, selected to direct the White House office of health affairs. She has run the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid. She has also worked for companies in the private sector associated with health.

The other headline reads, "Trade representative pick to pay back taxes." That refers to Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, in line to be U.S. trade representative. In vetting Kirk, the Senate Finance Committee found he made accounting mistakes adding up to about $10,000 in back taxes.

There has been no attempt to conceal any of this.

There have been some famous cases of nominees denied Senate confirmation. Former Sen. John Tower was voted down for secretary of defense in 1989 because of charges of alcoholism and womanizing. Judge Robert Bork was voted down for the Supreme Court mainly on ideological grounds. But that's a different story.

As reported Wednesday by the Washington Post, dozens of President Barack Obama's nominees have been left in limbo by an intensified vetting process. This is partly a result of Obama's promise during the campaign to subject nominees to rigid scrutiny. Some have been permitted to work in related positions, pending confirmation. Others have turned their backs on the assignment, with a "thanks, but no thanks."

It strikes me that the issue should be not past mistakes, but transparency about them. That availed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, after vetting turned up his tax mistakes. That should be more widely observed if we are not to live with a lot of empty desks in government offices.