An End to Bush-Era Politics

January 31, 2011

Every White House since the days of President Jimmy Carter has had a political affairs office to assess the effects of policy on voters and make sure that presidents are aware of the nation's political temperature. The office has grown in power alarmingly with each presidency, but the most recent Bush administration became so consumed with Republican politics that it crossed a legal red line, according to a new federal investigative report.

The report, by the federal Office of Special Counsel, found that the Bush White House routinely violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits most federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. It depicts the Bush Office of Political Affairs, run by Karl Rove, as virtually indistinguishable from the Republican Party. And it makes a strong case that the office — shut down by the Obama administration last week just before the report came out — can no longer co-exist with the law.

(NYT Editorial)