Those running federal agencies should at least believe in the mission

In business, successful companies typically hire managers who are experts in their field. People who understand the mission, and see that it is carried out. Not so much in politics. When it comes to naming members of the administration, some presidents use the posts to reward their buddies or their big donors. Sometimes they are not exactly experts in the fields they are charged with overseeing. The Trump administration is a good example of that. Some administration officials are not only unqualified, they actually oppose the mission of the department they lead. The nation’s Energy Secretary has in the past called for the elimination of the Department of Energy. The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn’t believe the agency he leads should even exist. The EPA administrator has repeatedly fought against the EPA and the nation’s Education secretary has not only never attended a public school but has routinely been hostile to public education. Now there is word that President Trump is considering naming William Perry Pendley the director of the Bureau of Land Management. Pendley has a long history of not protecting the nation’s public lands. In fact, he wrote a piece a few years ago calling for all public lands owned by the federal government to be sold. In short, he doesn’t think the federal government shouldn’t have public lands to manage. Yet he may soon be in charge of overseeing these public lands. Government should act more like business, and make sure the people in charge understand and believe in the mission they are charged with carrying out.