Historically, it is not very frequent that we see an incumbent United States Senator get elected President of the United States. It is even rarer that we see a U.S. Senator elected to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
Bucking this historic tradition, our President-elect and Vice President-elect are incumbent United States Senators. And now, Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel has been offered the Chief of Staff position in the Obama administration.
This development that we are witnessing is largely unprecedented: a Presidential administration filled with incumbents from Congress.
So why is this a big deal? Well, we all know from elementary school history that the founding fathers built this great nation with three separate branches built into our Constitution: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. This level of participation by legislators in the executive branch will serve to eliminate the barriers between the executive office and the Congress – already low due to the Democrats’ increased control of both Houses – threatening the entire premise of separation of powers that has helped make this country so great.
Thus, this begs the question, “How many more Congressional officials will we see in the Obama administration?” Regardless of the answer, in seeing an Obama administration composed of Democratic officials from the previous Congress, we are witnessing President-elect Obama’s mantra of change get thrown out the window.
Last 5 posts by Aaron Marks
- Onward and Upward: Building a Sustainable Majority - January 22nd, 2010
- Dear Young Voters: This Is What You Get When You Don't Vote - December 1st, 2009
- The Youth Vote and the 2009 Elections - November 6th, 2009
- The Best of the Post-2009 Election Spin - November 5th, 2009
- Introducing NextGenGOP Executive Director James Kane - October 20th, 2009
