Washington for Beginners
BARTLETT, BRUCE
Washington for Beginners Grovel to senators, be nice to civil servants, and learn how to leak. BY BRUCE BARTLETT WASHINGTON will soon be inundated with a fresh wave of political appointees. This...
...Those who fail had best get out of town as soon as possible, while their reputations are intact...
...A note on "leaking": All administrations hate leaks, which are unauthorized information given to the press...
...And they often do so for reasons completely unrelated to you...
...Reporters respect power, and they have an infallible sense of who's got it and who doesn't...
...In the meantime, an individual senator can block your appointment for any reason whatsoever and not even have to say what the reason is to anyone, least of all you...
...Ultimately, all administrations have one critical advantage and that is a monopoly on information...
...Just getting a hearing before the relevant committee is a major effort, requiring vast amounts of preparation in answering questions from committee staff long before one has the opportunity to meet an actual senator...
...New appointees will also come to realize that the Washington policy-making process is not limited to those who work in government, either in the administration or on Capitol Hill...
...Most of you won't be around very long—you'll stay just long enough to get a line on your resume and then move on to greener pastures...
...This being the first Democratic to Republican transition in 20 years, many of the new people will find themselves in the Washington pressure cooker for the first time...
...Better still is to stay "on background," which means that you cannot be quoted or cited in any way by a reporter...
...So, good luck to all the newcomers...
...During the Reagan years, master leakers like James Baker and David Gergen were notorious for getting good press in liberal papers through the skillful use of this method...
...Most reporters are liberal Democrats, but this is small comfort to Democratic administrations—and also not an insurmountable obstacle for Republicans...
...My best advice is never to say anything "on the record"—that means reporters can quote you directly and mention you by name...
...Getting used to dealing with the press is especially tricky for newcomers...
...It means they have no power at all...
...Of course, reporters are bound only by their honor to uphold such commitments...
...The rest will either be successful and join the permanent Washington establishment, or be run out of town, an embarrassment to everyone who ever knew them...
...If all this sounds silly, it is...
...The press are like hyenas...
...Thought of as exclusive news items, leaks can force reporters to run with stories they would never publish if sent out as a press release...
...In the meantime, you have probably quit your job, taken a big pay cut, spent hundreds of hours and considerable funds filling out vast numbers of reports, and are separated from your family...
...A presidential decision is usually just the first step in a long, slow policy process that can last for years...
...Especially if the information comes to them close to a deadline, they have little choice but to run the item with your "spin" on it...
...In the short run, the most important thing for most appointees to know is which Senate committee will confirm them...
...Power in Washington largely consists in the appearance of power...
...And within each faction there are sub-factions—majority and minority, leadership, committees, and a multitude of regional and other informal power blocs...
...They can smell blood from far away and quickly pounce on and devour the weak...
...Leaks can also be a very powerful way to get an administration's story through a hostile media...
...newcomers, it is not just like being dumped into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim, it is like being dropped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean...
...For Bruce Bartlett has worked at the White House, the Treasury Department, the Senate and House, and several Washington think tanks in the course of his career...
...That is why they joined the Washington press corps in the first place...
...We all know about lobbyists, but think tanks, interest groups, and the press are just as important...
...You cannot buy a new house until you are confirmed, and you are being paid as a consultant well below the pay grade for the job you have been appointed to...
...If they decide to blow your cover, you have no recourse whatsoever...
...Those who learn the rules fast can prosper quickly...
...And you will learn that there is a rigid pecking order among departments and agencies, and that you are closer to the bottom than the top...
...Sometimes such "holds" can go on for months—and senators have far more stamina than most appointees...
...Keep in mind that the press is the enemy of all administrations, because its primary goal is to know your secrets...
...With skill, any administration can play the press like a violin...
...You will determine that practically every new idea you have has already been tried before...
...But it is also the way the world works...
...In other words, those who are thought to have power actually have it...
...Assuming you are confirmed by the Senate and finally take office as a newly minted assistant secretary or whatever, you will discover that your troubles have just begun...
...It is not just because it's their job—they do it for fun...
...The main objection to them is that higher-ups in the chain of command lose the opportunity to divulge the information themselves to their favored reporters, who often repay such generosity with "puff pieces" in their papers...
...One way to stay on the good side of the press is simply to be successful...
...Sadly, over the last quarter century, there seem to be fewer of the former and more of the latter...
...You are going to need it...
...in a corporation, when the CEo makes a decision, that's that...
...That is why being "out of the loop" is the worst thing that can happen to anyone in Washington...
...one of the most important things new political appointees (particularly those from the business world) need to understand is how diffused power is in Washington...
...In practice, however, leaks seldom do any real harm...
...Not so in Washington...
...The dirty secret, however, is that no one has real power...
...How they cope will be important to the success of George W. Bush...
...You will find that you cannot hire or fire most of your staff, because they are part of the Civil Service...
...And quite a few are leaving corporate America with its well-established rules for a city that operates under a completely different set...
...The president may nominally be the CEO of USA, Inc., but unlike in most corporations, he will have to contend with a hyperactive board of directors called Congress...
...Always insist that your comments are "off the record," meaning that you can be quoted, but not identified...
...Navigating these waters is tough enough for experienced pros...
...Then the committee has to vote out your appointment and the majority leader must schedule a vote by the full Senate...
...How, where, when, and to whom an administration chooses to impart that information can make or break careers in the media...
...And whereas even the biggest companies have perhaps two dozen board members, the board of USA, Inc., has 535 members, divided into two equally powerful and competing factions—the House and Senate...
...They don't have time to check it and cannot afford to risk losing the story to a competitor...
Vol. 6 • January 2001 • No. 16
