Mark Lloyd, the FCC's chief diversity officer, was not among the four so-called White House czars whose positions were defunded in the just-passed continuing resolution to fund the government through September. The House approved the resolution and the Senate was expected to vote by Friday. It will need to.
Lloyd had been among a handful of posts targeted by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) in a previous CR that did not pass. His reintroduced amendment did make it onto the latest CR that is expected to pass this week before the Friday deadline and another potential shutdown, but it was absent Lloyd's position and was billed as its "most radical czars."
During debate on that initial amendment, Scalise had referred to a "fairness doctrine" czar trying to "undermine the First Amendment rights of talk radio hosts." He did not name Lloyd, with the bill simply identifying Lloyd's position as one that would get no salary and thus would be zeroed out, though a staffer confirmed it was Lloyd they were targeting.
While deposing czars is more the province of old-line communists, it was the Republicans that took aim at the posts, with Scalise saying that saying they were part of a shadow government unaccountable to Congress-the posts are not subject to confirmation.
The posts that were axed, according to Scalise are "Health Care Czar" (White House Office of Health Reform)
"Car Czar" (Senior Advisory to the Secretary of the Treasury Assigned to the presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry); "Urban Affairs Czar (White House Director of Urban Affairs)" and Climate Change Czar (Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change).
Along with Lloyd, also spared the Romanov-like fate was the green jobs czar (special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation, Council on Environmental Quality).
