The idea that political bad news should be reserved for late-Friday afternoons has been around for years, but lately, it’s been taken to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective).
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank had a disturbing item (yes, that’s two great articles in the same day for Mr. Milbank) today detailing exactly how the Bush White House is “moving swiftly to establish the administration’s place in history as the Friday Night Presidency.”
Last Friday afternoon, President Bush announced that he was circumventing the Senate confirmation process and appointing controversial judicial nominee William H. Pryor Jr. to the federal bench. It was the second such recess appointment to be made late on a Friday, following last month’s appointment of Charles W. Pickering Sr.
The Friday before the Pryor nomination, the White House had two other late-day announcements: word that Bush would testify privately to the 9/11 commission, and a 7 p.m. dump of hundreds of documents from Bush’s National Guard files. Other Friday surprises in recent months include the Justice Department’s approval of a Texas redistricting plan expected to give the GOP as many as seven House seats; a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency not to regulate dioxins in sewage sludge; and the news from the Commerce Department that household incomes had declined for three years in a row and 1.7 million people had fallen into poverty — the first time such statistics were announced on a Friday.
It is an old political tradition to dump unpopular news on Friday, because fewer people are reading newspapers or watching television news over the weekend. But the Bush administration has been using the trick so routinely that it is losing effectiveness. “They’re not as successful now in hiding these Friday stories,” said Robert Lichter of the nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs. “Everybody does it, but this administration has done it too much for their own good.”
These examples are, unfortunately, just the tip of the iceberg.
Indeed, Friday has become a Bush favorite both for dropping bad news and for making announcements that appeal to the president’s conservative base, not necessarily the general public. It was on a Friday, for example, that the administration disclosed its long-awaited decision that it would eliminate requirements that thousands of the nation’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants and refineries make anti-pollution improvements as they upgrade facilities. On another Friday, the administration announced new rules giving new rights to fetuses. Yet another Friday brought an announcement virtually ensuring that Republicans would prevail in a dispute over the 2000 census count.
Resignations often see daylight on Fridays. The ouster of Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and of Bush economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey came on a Friday, as did the resignation of Army Secretary Thomas E. White, a former Enron Corp. executive, announced on a Friday.
Speaking of Enron, the Justice Department chose a Friday night for directing administration officials to preserve papers related to Enron. Likewise, the White House selected Friday as the day to oppose a probe of discussions Karl Rove had with companies in which he held stock.
Health scares, too, get Friday treatment. Bush announced on a Friday that he was to have a colon examination and would temporarily transfer power to Vice President Cheney. Cheney, in turn, announced on a Friday that he would undergo heart tests and expected to have a pacemaker-like device implanted in his chest.
One Friday brought word that federal employees would receive a smaller raise than Congress recommended, and another brought news that 61 foreign steel products would be exempt from tariffs Bush had imposed with much fanfare.
By the way, it wasn’t the White House directly (at least I hope not), but the announcement that the CIA asked the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into the Valerie Plame scandal also came on a Friday night.
And I should add that Republicans in the White House aren’t the only ones abusing Fridays; Republicans in Congress have been doing the same thing.
As Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) explained a few months ago, House Republicans rely heavily on “the cover of darkness” to obscure controversial votes from the public.
Never before has the House of Representatives operated in such secrecy:
At 2:54 a.m. on a Friday in March, the House cut veterans benefits by three votes.
At 2:39 a.m. on a Friday in April, the House slashed education and health care by five votes.
At 1:56 a.m. on a Friday in May, the House passed the Leave No Millionaire Behind tax-cut bill by a handful of votes.
At 2:33 a.m. on a Friday in June, the House passed the Medicare privatization and prescription drug bill by one vote.
At 12:57 a.m. on a Friday in July, the House eviscerated Head Start by one vote.
And then, after returning from summer recess, at 12:12 a.m. on a Friday in October, the House voted $87 billion for Iraq.
Always in the middle of the night. Always after the press had passed their deadlines. Always after the American people had turned off the news and gone to bed….
And late last month, they did it again. The most sweeping changes to Medicare in its 38-year history were forced through the House at 5:55 on a Saturday morning.
It’s breathtaking that the Republicans’ approach to governing is predicated on the necessity to hide their activities from public view. It speaks volumes about their agenda and its impact on all of us.