Tag: Adviser

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Politics

Expert in Technique (and Grudges), Prime Biden Adviser to Depart White Home

Skilled in Strategy (and Grudges), Top Biden Adviser to Depart White House

WASHINGTON – For the past 17 months since Joseph R. Biden Jr. roused his campaign after an embarrassing fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has relied on Anita Dunn, a veteran Washington advisor, for both guidance and guidance as a grudge.

Ms. Dunn, 63, gave direction as Mr. Biden’s campaign took off. She later refused to allow Julian Castro, a former housing minister, a requested speaking time at the Democratic National Convention, still upset by his night of debate against Mr Biden’s mental acuity, according to people familiar with the snub. And so far in the west wing she has helped shape every important political advance.

Now, Ms. Dunn will return to her powerful democratic consultancy, leaving a void in Mr. Biden’s little inner circle as the highly contagious Delta variant permeates unvaccinated communities and the fate of Mr. Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal is on the verge of collapse.

“It brings stability and adherence to strategy,” said David Plouffe, the former Obama campaign manager. “You can see it in the White House, where they are very disciplined about Covid, the economy and the President’s commitment. This discipline and not swinging in every pitch is really classic Anita. “

Ms. Dunn has prepared the President for every interview and press conference since taking on his campaign and promoting the government’s buttoned-up approach to the news media. She is widely credited with promoting women to leadership positions in the west wing. And she firmly opposes Mr. Biden asking questions from reporters on a regular basis, which she believes does little to advance his agenda. She prefers town hall events.

But for all of her discipline and expertise, Ms. Dunn’s presence in the Biden administration, and before that in the Obama administration, has raised the question of how her influence in government overlaps with the corporate work of her company, which represents clients who want to influence politics .

Ms. Dunn has just parted ways with SKDK, the business and policy advisory firm she co-founded, and is returning next month for short campaign and government work. And the fact that it is exempt from filing public financial disclosures required by full-time presidential candidates has been criticized by some ethics watchers.

Your presence in the west wing is also evidence of how Mr Biden has prioritized his reliance on trustworthy personalities with decades of experience in the bypass, even as he promised to end access peddling common during the Trump administration. (This week Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a close friend of former President Donald J. Trump and one of his top 2016 fundraisers, was accused of using his access to Mr. Trump to promote the UAE’s foreign policy goals and then reiterated Misleading federal agents about his activities.)

Ms. Dunn and her colleagues have said that she has always scrupulously adhered to ethical rules. The SKDK emphasizes that it does not lobby, but rather provides political and media advice.

Ms. Dunn and her husband Robert Bauer, a former White House attorney who still serves as personal advocate for both Mr. Biden and former President Barack Obama, have long been part of the infrastructure of Washington’s national democratic politics.

Following the 2020 election, Ms. Dunn intended to return to her position as managing director of her company, which represents Pfizer, AT&T and Amazon alongside other corporate giants such as the NAACP

However, Mr. Biden and his wife Jill Biden had other plans. They urged Ms. Dunn to join the new government, reminding her that the pandemic was killing 3,000 people every day and that Mr. Biden relied on her experience and determination.

Ms. Dunn did not feel that she could say no, colleagues said.

She agreed to work for a short term as “special government agent,” a designation that exempts her from the public finance disclosure required of full-time government employees, but also limits the number of days she spends in white A house.

Nor did she intend to oversee Mr Biden’s campaign. But after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses, followed by a disastrous fifth place in New Hampshire, Ms. Dunn was motivated by a mixture of loyalty and desperation, according to colleagues.

There was little money in February 2020. There were no crowds. Ms. Dunn took control of the entire operation, lived at a Hampton Inn in Philadelphia near the campaign headquarters, and approved $ 200 in office supplies, colleagues recalled.

Ms. Dunn helped Mr. Biden conclude that the timing was not right. Mr Biden reached out to her again in 2018 when he was seriously considering a run against Mr Trump.

In her current position, she earns a salary of $ 129,000, just below the $ 132,552 threshold that requires filing public financial disclosures. (Mr. Bauer, who is a co-chair of the President’s Commission to Evaluate Proposed Revisions in the Supreme Court, is also a special government official, though his role is unpaid.)

Eleanor Eagan, a research director for the Revolving Door Project, criticized the government for allowing Ms. Dunn to bypass disclosure rules. “Biden has promised to restore confidence in the government after Trump’s fantastically corrupt government,” Ms. Eagan said. “Allowing this and similar evasions is a clear violation of this promise.”

Now Ms. Dunn is returning to the private sector, where her colleagues benefit from her connections in the west wing.

Ms. Dunn’s company was also hired to handle the $ 2.2 million direct mail contract for the Biden campaign, according to the campaign papers, underscoring how the business world and the political world are sometimes aligned.

Some of SKDK’s customers have sparked controversy, such as the case of NSO Group, an Israeli cyber-tech company that The Intercept said was accused of using its spyware to hack the phones of journalists and human rights activists. Hilary Rosen, a partner at SKDK, said she stopped representing the company in 2019 and dropped it as a customer over spyware allegations.

A senior White House official said Ms. Dunn would be subject to the governmental restrictions that apply to former federal employees. This includes a two-year limit on who she contacts on matters in which the government has a “significant interest” that has been pending under its official responsibility in the White House.

Even with her return to the company, no one at the White House expects Ms. Dunn’s influence in the Biden world to end completely. Indeed, many view her departure as a moment to take a deep breath before she begins planning the president’s re-election, which he has so far announced.

“She will always be a phone call away,” said Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser to the White House.

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Health

Biden Has Elevated the Job of Science Adviser. Is That What Science Wants?

Biden Has Elevated the Job of Science Adviser. Is That What Science Needs?

On the campaign trail, Joseph R. Biden Jr. vowed to depose Donald J. Trump and bring science back to the White House, federal government, and nation after years of President’s assaults and denials, neglect, and disorder.

As president-elect, he got off to a quick start in January by appointing Eric S. Lander, a top biologist, as his scientific advisor. He also made the job a cabinet position, describing his survey as part of his effort to “reinvigorate our national science and technology strategy.”

In theory, the expanded position of Dr. Make Lander one of the most influential scientists in American history.

However, his Senate confirmation hearing was postponed for three months and eventually rescheduled for Thursday.

The delay arose in part from questions about his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who had crept into the scientific elite despite a 2008 conviction that classified him as a sex offender, Politico said. Dr. Lander met Mr. Epstein twice at fundraisers in 2012, but denied having received any funding or relationship with Mr. Epstein, who was later charged with federal sexual trafficking and committed suicide in prison in 2019.

The long delay in the Senate’s confirmation has raised concerns that the survey of Dr. Lander by the Biden government is more symbolic than content – it’s more about creating the appearance of strong federal support for the science enterprise than working to achieve a productive reality.

Roger Pielke Jr., a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder who has interviewed and profiled scientific advisor to the President, recently stated that one of President Biden’s major scientific agendas, climate policy, swiftly without the help of a White House science advisor made progress.

“Does Biden give him a lot of work?” he asked for Dr. Lander’s role. “Or is there actually an insurance portfolio?”

Likewise, Mr Biden’s first proposed federal budget, presented on April 9, was not publicly approved by the President’s science advisor, but is aiming for a substantial increase in funding from almost every science agency.

Mr. Biden’s science post advocate and his late start has raised a number of questions: What are the White House science advisors actually doing? What you should do? Are some more successful than others, and if so, why? Do they ever play a significant role in Washington’s budget wars? Does Mr. Biden’s approach have echoes in history?

The American public received few answers to such questions during Mr. Trump’s tenure. He left the position blank for the first two years of his tenure – by far the longest such post since Congress in 1976, when the modern version of the advisory post and office was established in the White House. Under public pressure, Mr. Trump filled the opening in early 2019 with Kelvin Droegemeier, an Oklahoma meteorologist, who held back. Critics mocked Mr. Trump’s neglect of this position and the open positions in other academic expert positions across the executive branch.

While the responsibilities of federal labor scientists are usually defined in great detail, every president’s science advisor comes to the job with a blank board, according to Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the science, technology, and public order program at the University of Michigan.

“You don’t have a clear portfolio,” she said. “You have a lot of flexibility.”

The lack of set responsibilities means that as early as 1951, and President Harry S. Truman – the first to bring a formal science advisor to the White House – had the leeway to assume a variety of roles, including those far removed from science.

“We have the image of a wise person who stands behind the president, whispering in his ear and imparting knowledge,” said Dr. Pielke. “The reality is that the science advisor is a resource for the White House and the President to do with what they see fit.”

Dr. Pielke argued that Mr. Biden is genuinely interested in quickly rebuilding the credibility of the position and building public confidence in the federal know-how. “There’s a lot to like,” he said.

However, history shows that even good beginnings in the world of scientific advice to the president are no guarantee that the appointment will end on a high level.

“Anyone who comes to a science advisor without significant political experience faces some gross shocks,” said Edward E. David Jr., the science advisor to President Richard M. Nixon, in an interview long after his tenure as a bruise. He passed away in 2017.

One day in 1970, Mr. Nixon ordered Dr. David, all federal research grants to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. David’s alma mater, to be shortened. At the time, it was receiving more than $ 100 million a year.

The reason? The President of the United States had found the school president’s political views intolerable.

“I just sat there amazed,” recalled Dr. David. Back in his office, the phone rang. It was John Ehrlichman, one of Mr. Nixon’s trusted helpers.

“Ed, my advice is not to do anything,” he recalled Mr. Ehrlichman. The sensitive subject soon disappeared.

1973, shortly after Dr. David had resigned, Mr. Nixon eliminated the fiefdom. The president had reportedly come to see the advisor as a science lobbyist. After Mr. Nixon stepped down, Congress entered to reinstate both the advisory post and its administrative body, renaming him the White House Science and Technology Policy Office.

Some analysts argue that the position has become more influential in line with academic achievements and advances. However, others say the stature of the job has declined as science has become more specialized and advisory work has increasingly focused on narrow topics that are unlikely to interest the president. Still others believe that so many specialists are now informing the federal government that a senior White House scientist has become superfluous.

But Mr Biden’s moves, he added in an interview, were now poised to add importance and potential vacillation to the post. “For Democrats,” he said, “science and politics are converging, so it is wise to raise the status of science.” It’s good politics. “

The scientific community tends to view presidential advisers as effective science budget activists. Not so, did Dr. Sarewitz argues. He sees the federal budget for science well done over the decades, regardless of what the president’s science advisors have endorsed or promoted.

Neal F. Lane, a physicist who served as scientific advisor to President Bill Clinton, argued that the post is more important today than ever as its resident offers a broad perspective on what can best serve the nation and the world.

“Only the science advisor can be the integrator of all these complex issues and the broker who helps the president understand the game between the agencies,” he said in an interview.

The moment is right, added Dr. Lane added. Disasters like the war, the Kennedy assassination, and the 2001 terrorist attacks could become turning points in the revitalization. He added that the coronavirus pandemic is a time in American history when “big changes can take place”.

He hoped that Mr Biden would be able to bring up topics such as energy, climate change and pandemic preparedness.

Regarding the federal budget, Dr. Lane, who headed the National Science Foundation before becoming Clinton’s scientific advisor from 1998 to 2001, his own experience suggested the post could have a modest impact, but it would reset the country’s scientific development. In his own tenure, he said, funding increased for the natural sciences, including physics, math, and engineering.

Part of his own influence, said Dr. Lane, came from personal relationships in the White House. For example, he met the powerful director of the Office of Management and Budget who set the finances of the administration while he was dining at the White House Mess.

According to analysts, the advisory post becomes most influential when the scientific advisors are closely coordinated with the president’s agendas. But a commander in chief’s goals may not coincide with those of the scientific establishment, and any influence exerted by proximity to the president can prove to be quite narrow.

George A. Keyworth II was a physicist from Los Alamos – the birthplace of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. In Washington, as a scientific advisor to Ronald Reagan, he strongly supported the president’s vision of the missile defense plan known as the Star Wars.

Dr. Pielke of the University of Colorado said the controversial topic was Dr. Keyworths become business card in official Washington. “It was Star Wars,” he said. “That’s it.” Despite intense lobbying, the president’s call for weapons in space met with fierce opposition from experts and Congress, and the costly effort never got beyond the research phase.

Political analysts say Mr. Biden went out of his way to help Dr. Lander, a geneticist and president of the Broad Institute, a center for advanced biology operated by Harvard University and MIT, to share his core interests

On January 15, Mr. Biden published a letter with marching orders to Dr. Lander, where he pondered whether science can help “backward communities” and “ensure Americans of all backgrounds” are involved in the creation of science and secure its rewards.

Dr. Parthasarathy said Mr. Biden’s approach was unusual, both as a public letter and as a request to science to have a social conscience. In time, she added, the agenda could change both the advisor’s office and the nation.

“We are in a moment” where science has the potential to make a difference on issues of social justice and inequality, she said. “I know my students are increasingly concerned about these questions, and I think they are simple scientists too,” added Dr. Parthasarathy added. “If there was ever a time to really focus on her, it is now.”

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Health

Biden to Elevate Science Adviser to His Cupboard

Biden to Elevate Science Adviser to His Cabinet

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced Friday that he would strengthen the role of science in his cabinet to “refresh and reinvigorate our national science and technology strategy.”

Mr. Biden will appoint Eric S. Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and appoint him as scientific advisor to the president. For the first time, the position is raised at cabinet level.

The appointments signal a drastic shift from the role of science in the Trump administration. President Trump left the science advisor position blank for 18 months while his administration routinely ignored guidance from government scientists on topics such as the coronavirus pandemic, chemical pollution and climate change.

Mr Biden has made other appointments to the White House that could add science to decision-making, such as the appointment of John Kerry, former Secretary of State and Democratic Senator, a special envoy for the President on Climate Change, and the creation of a new White House Office of Climate Policy under the direction of Gina McCarthy, who served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama.

“Eric Lander is a true Renaissance scientist with a deep understanding of the many fields of science and their interrelationships,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “At a time when the nation and the world are facing complex challenges that require the full power of the natural, life, environmental, social, biomedical, and engineering sciences, Eric is an inspired choice of a scientist of international standing for ensuring that science guides sound policy. “

In Friday’s announcement, Mr. Biden also announced that Alondra Nelson, professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and president of the Social Science Research Council in Washington, DC, would serve as assistant director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Frances H. Arnold and Maria Zuber will serve as external co-chairs of the President’s Science and Technology Advisory Board, a council of prominent volunteer experts from outside the federal government. Dr. Arnold, a protein scientist at Caltech, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018, just the fifth woman to do so. Dr. Zuber, vice president of research at MIT, was the first woman to lead a NASA spacecraft mission.

“Science will always be at the forefront of my administration – and these world-renowned scientists will make sure that everything we do is based on science, facts and the truth,” Biden said in his announcement. “Your trusted guidance will be vital as we come together to end this pandemic, bring back our economies, and make new breakthroughs to improve the quality of life for all Americans. Your insights will help America plan a better future, and I am grateful that you answered the call for service. “

In 2018, Mr. Trump appointed Kelvin Droegemeier, then vice president of research at the University of Oklahoma, as its director of the science and technology policy bureau. Although Dr. Droegemeier is highly regarded for his weather research, many scholars felt that he failed to convince Mr. Trump to stand behind a significant improvement in American science.

“I give him an A for effort and an F for performance,” a science policy expert told Science Magazine in October about Dr. Droegemeier.

During his two years in the White House, Dr. Droegemeier back in January and made headlines. He expelled two employees after they published brochures about climate deniers with a White House logo.

Mr Trump left the President’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology inactive for 33 months. When he restored it in 2019, only one of his appointees was an academic scientist, and private industry representatives filled out the council.

Dr. Lander, the candidate for the Scientific Advisor, is best known as one of the directors of the Human Genome Project. With his PhD in mathematics, he created elegant methods for sifting through genetic data, mapping genes and discovering their functions and roles in diseases.

Dr. Lander founded the Broad Institute, which became a premier research center for genome sequencing. Broad researchers have also done some of the pioneering work on CRISPR, the technology for manipulating DNA. Dr. Lander previously served as co-chair of Mr. Obama’s Scientific Advisory Board.

“Our country represents science and technology at the most important moment since World War II,” said Dr. Lander in a press release from the Broad Institute. “How we react will shape our future for the rest of this century. President-elect Biden understands the centrality of science and technology, and it is my great honor to have the chance to serve the nation. “

In a letter to Dr. Lander, which Mr Biden released on Friday, reminded the President-elect how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had asked his science advisor Vannevar Bush a series of questions about how science could benefit the United States. Mr. Biden introduced Dr. Lander raised his own questions about improving public health, climate change, technology, and ensuring that the benefits of science are fully shared by all Americans.

“I look forward to receiving your recommendations – and to working with you, your team, and the broader scientific community to create solutions that will ease the burden on the American people, create new jobs and opportunities, and drive American leadership in the world restore stage, ”wrote Mr Biden.

Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be Dr. Lander, Dr. Nelson, Dr. Arnold and Dr. Zuber at a live event on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time in Wilmington, Del.