By Michael Fryzel
I served over five of my six years on the NCUA board under a Democrat administration. During that time President Obama issued numerous Executive Orders that had an impact on departments and agencies under the Executive Branch.
The President issued those orders because he believed they would make the government operate more efficiently. Every time he issued an order, independent agencies, including NCUA, would immediately question whether it should apply to them and some even challenged the idea that they would have to comply.
My position then, as it is now, was that any Executive Order issued by the President applies to all agencies of government. No agency is different when it comes to a Presidential directive because somewhere in their enabling legislation the word “independent” is used. There is only one President and one government. The only way an individual elected to that position can do their job, and do it right, is to be able to direct and run the government in a way they believe best. That is what they were elected to do.
President Trump’s order addressing the need for a comprehensive plan for reorganizing the Executive Branch is something that is needed and overdue. Departments and agencies of the federal government have a tendency to grow and become bigger every year. Their argument is that they have more responsibility and are required to do more work therefore need more money and more employees.
The Trump Executive Order provides an opportunity to step back, look where every agency is at, review what they do and how they do it and then the agencies are expected to make the necessary changes to ensure they are more efficient, more effective and more accountable to the people they serve, the taxpayers of the United States.
Two Options
For a Presidential appointee of any agency, independent or otherwise, to claim they are not subject to an Executive Order leaves one with the impression that they somehow believe they are different, can do what they want and are not required to follow the directives of the President who put them in their position
If that is the case, there are two options. The individual who feels they are so autonomous that they report to no one, should resign. They were chosen to be part of the President’s team and there is no “I” in team. Or, should they chose not to resign and continue to claim their independence, they should be fired.
The separation of power in government is spelled out in the Constitution and provides for Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. It does not within those within those branches create separate units that can pick and choose what directives, laws and orders they want to follow.
Independent agencies should be forewarned, clean up your own house lest the Congress will do it for you.
Michael Fryzel is a former chairman of NCUA and now in private practice in Chicago.