GovernmentExecutive.com

The "Bush-is-trying-to-rein-in-the-bureaucracy" story line continues to develop, with Reuters weighing in with its take. Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves here? Sure, there have been a few well-publicized anecdotes about hard-to-control bureaucrats at the CIA and the FDA over the past week. And certainly, the president seems to be rewarding loyalty in his first wave of Cabinet replacements. But those two things--especially the second--are hardly unusual in second terms. First-term Cabinet appointments have to be big and symbolic in some way. The second time around you get to promote the people you've worked with for awhile and probably would have put in the jobs in the first place, if political considerations hadn't prevented it. At least Reuters resists the temptation to play the Nixon card.