Obama Shuns Rule on Curbing Czars

The 2011 budget agreement passed last week includes a rule eliminating four White House advisory posts. But President Barack Obama has decided to ignore it, Politico reports.

The rules, written by House Republicans, cut the salaries for the so-called czars of healthcare, climate change, autos and manufacturing, and urban affairs.

The following was included in a statement that president Obama issued on Friday: "The president also has the prerogative to obtain advice that will assist him in carrying out his constitutional responsibilities, and do so not only from executive branch officials and employees outside the White House, but also from advisers within it.

"Legislative efforts that significantly impede the president's ability to exercise his supervisory and coordinating authorities or to obtain the views of the appropriate senior advisers violate the separation of powers.”