That the people ought to exercise some control over those who rule us is an axiomatic idea in American politics. Yet, in practice, it is frequently not the case. In Washington, unelected bureaucrats are often the ones with true power.
But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) just introduced a bill to fix that anomaly in one important domain.
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Cruz’s new legislation, the CDC Accountability Act, would “move up the date by which the position of Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) becomes a Senate-approved position,” according to a press release. Under current law, the position wouldn’t be considered one that needs Senate approval until 2025. However, under Cruz’s bill, newly appointed directors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be “Senate confirmable immediately upon” the president signing it.
This is particularly relevant now because President Joe Biden just named Mandy Cohen to become the new CDC director. Cruz pointed out in the press release that “public health officials have an incredible amount of power over the lives of Texans and Americans. Mandy Cohen was a driving force behind lockdowns and forced masking in North Carolina. Taking advantage of a pandemic to push government control over our daily lives shouldn’t be rewarded with a promotion.”
Cruz is, of course, right. And this is, of course, good policy.
For starters, it has been made clear over the past few years that the CDC director has tremendous influence over the regulations that determine how people live. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the CDC’s recommendations that were the basis for mask mandates, vaccine mandates, eviction moratoria, and school closures all being implemented and ultimately ended. That the person making these important and politically contentious decisions never had to be voted on by a single person in Congress is unjustified.
When considering the bigger picture, this is also a good development, as bureaucrats who never got voted on by anyone have been making an increasingly significant portion of the decisions over the past few decades. Between 1995 and 2016, the federal bureaucracy issued 88,899 rules, but during the same period, only 4,312 bills were passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. From 2006 to 2016, the average ratio was 27 rules for each law. In practice, this means the executive branch has effectively been doing more legislating than the legislative branch.
Cruz’s bill is not going to change how many rules are imposed by unelected bureaucrats, but it will mean those whom the people elected to represent them will at least have a say in the person who runs one of these regulatory agencies. That is a step in the right direction.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein the federal government overstepped time and time again, it is important to give Congress more oversight powers to make sure that never happens again.
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Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.