William Luther: “I am joining with my colleague, the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], in offering this amendment to reduce and…”

“I am joining with my colleague, the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], in offering this amendment to reduce and cap the number of political appointees in the executive branch at 2,300 effective September 30, 1997. The term "political appointee" refers to those employees of the Federal Government who are appointed by the President, some with and some without confirmation by the Senate, and to certain policy advisors hired at lower levels. It includes Cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and other executive schedule employees at the very top ranks of Government. It includes managers and supervisors who are noncareer members of the Senior Executive Service, and it includes confidential aides and policy advisors who are referred to as schedule C employees. In a recently published book titled "Thickening Government," the Federal Government and the diffusion of accountability, author Paul Light reports a startling 430 percent increase in the number of political appointees and senior executives in Federal Government from 1960 to 1992. While the number of political appointees rose significantly from 200 in 1940 to 500 in 1960, it mushroomed from 500 in 1960 to 3,200 in 1992. In the most recent 12 years between 1980 and 1992, the number of political appointees rose over three times as fast as the total number of executive branch employees.”