GovernmentExecutive.com

The end of President Obama's first 100 days in office has been getting a vast (dare I say suffocating?) amount of mainstream media attention, but I've been thinking a great deal about John Berry's first two weeks in office, especially given his press conference on Capitol Hill today.

The press conference struck me for a couple of reasons. First, Berry seemed determine to make a splash, and to be defining a role for himself in the political process. I can't remember ever seeing Linda Springer or Michael Hager, the two OPM directors I've covered, on the Hill unless they were behind a witness table answering questions from Congressmen. Today, Berry was master of ceremonies, and he effectively increased the press draw by getting three Congressmen to stand with him. He did that even though he was essentially coopting their bill by implementing its provisions himself--they'll continue to push for its passage, but they'll be codifying what Berry has already done. And all three lawmakers praised him effusively. It was a very canny piece of politics.

Second, Berry is drawing extremely explicit connections between himself and the White House. He did this at his swearing-in ceremony, saying he spoke for the president in rejecting employment discrimination, and he did it again today, saying repeatedly that Obama supported the move to expand telework, explaining his conversations with the Cabinet secretaries, and citing Obama in explaining why he was moving quickly on implementing the new telework policy. Reinforcing that connection does two things: it makes Berry an effective surrogate for workforce issues, and it sets Berry up to be an extremely strong figure with explicit support from the White House.

Swine flu certainly helped speed up the announcement of the telework policy, but it's a move that will help Berry build political capital. It's bold, it has support on the Hill and with employee and outside groups, and it makes him look responsive to current concerns. And Berry announced the policy just two weeks into his term in office. He will certainly face much more difficult fights, but he's amassing all the strength he can, as quickly as he can.