No Accounting for Some People

As a CPA, I found this profile very disturbing. Once upon a time, Republicans stood for careful management of public finances. Now, when they stand at all, it is merely to salute the crony-in-chief.

Think about it -- a CFO for an operation with a $40 billion budget -- and he has no background in accounting, internal controls, or financial management!

Here then is number 14 in The New Republic's hack parade:

14: Andrew Maner
Chief Financial Officer, Department of Homeland Security

Andrew Maner comes to his job with unimpeachable credentials--not in finance or accounting, admittedly, but as a dues-payer in the Bush family empire.

In the first Bush administration, Maner helped to plan presidential travel and served as a junior press aide. Later, he followed the defeated George H.W. Bush back to Texas to be a spokesman and political fixer for the ex-president. After several private sector years working in information technology and procurement, he took over the U.S. Customs Office of Trade Relations, whose mission is to foster "positive relationships with the international trade community." Billing himself as a trade expert, Maner called the Customs gig a "logical next step in [my] career."

Less logical, however, was his leap (after a short stint as chief of staff to the Customs commissioner) to managing DHS's sprawling $40 billion budget. Given his slim management background, it's convenient that Maner landed the only Cabinet department CFO slot that doesn't require Senate confirmation. Perhaps it also explains why, when DHS officials recently unveiled a revamped organizational chart, Maner's office was accidentally omitted. (Hack bonus: "Of all the things we do in the Department, charts may not be our strength," said the Department's undersecretary for management, Janet Hale.)

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