Among other things, we have Kathryn Ruemmler in part to blame for ending the fillibuster AND for keeping documents from congressional investigations. She is stepping down in May 2015.
EXCERPTS:
“Kathy has become one of my most trusted advisers over the past few years,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “I deeply value her smarts, her judgment, and her wit — but most importantly her uncanny ability to see around the corners that nobody else anticipates.”
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President Obama said that Ms. Ruemmler had become “one of my most trusted advisers over the past few years.” Credit Charles Dharapak/Associated Press
Examples of Ms. Ruemmler’s influence are wide-ranging. When Mr. Obama was weighing whether to launch a punitive strike against Syria over claims it had used chemical weapons, officials said, Ms. Ruemmler advised him that he could lawfully do so but that it would be prudent to seek prior congressional authorization.
Ms. Ruemmler was also the principal architect, officials said, of a strategy to overcome the reluctance of Senate Democrats to kill the filibuster rule: sending up three nominees for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, whom Republicans blocked in a row. With the filibuster gone, Mr. Obama has reversed his previously lagging record on appointments, transforming the circuit and catching up to President George W. Bush’s pace.
And Ms. Ruemmler took a hard line in internal debates about keeping executive branch documents secret, like memos from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel sought by congressional overseers, or in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. Her arguments — that disclosing them would chill candid advice to presidents — have contributed to Mr. Obama’s transition from promising greater transparency to being criticized even by his own allies for excessive secrecy.
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