Each one of these advisors or “czars” is a violation of power granted to the president in Article II of the United States.

The following are the most common excuses and justifications for these individual:

• “President [pick any name] had czars, too!”
  How about something we have all heard while growing up – “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
• “They don’t have any real power.”
  Perhaps. Here is what they have of which we are certain:
  • A tax-payer funded salary
  • A tax-payer funded office in the White House or other federal building
  • Tax-payer funded staff with office furniture, equipment, and supplies
  • A tax-payer funded travel and expense account
  • First-hand access to the President and his Cabinet
  • The name and endorsement of the President behind their political agendas
• “The President needs advisors.”
  Agreed. That is why Article II of the Constitution provides a mechanism by which Congress may question, and approve or reject those with the most immediate and unfettered access to the President. Each major agency within the government has a senior advisor who is a member of the President’s cabinet. In theory, there should be no business conducted by the President that does not have a corresponding agency with associated congressional oversight. Where circumstances have required expertise outside the scope of the government, previous administrations have appointed special advisors. In the past most of these special advisors have been presented to congress for approval – something the Obama administration has not felt compelled to do even once.

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