Relying on the Unelected and Uninformed The leading sunset commission proposals would create an unelected commission, whose members would be appointed by the White House, to review government programs and recommend whether they live or die. Rather than evaluating programs in the sunlight through the authorization and appropriations process, as is now the case, this commission would push the reorganization and termination process behind closed doors and open it up to the influence of special intersts. While congressional committees spend a considerable amount of time and resources understanding a particular area of government policy, the sunset commission would be required to absorb the expertise from the 21 Senate committees, 24 House committees, 6 joint committees and countless subcommittees in order to make overarching recommendations. Not only will the commission be unable to take the nuanced approach that a congressional committee, with expertise in an issue, would be able to take, this deficiency would also make it more susceptible to the influence of special interests. PART of the Problem The commission would rely on White House evaluations of program effectiveness to makes its recommendations. Most likely, these evaluations would build on the evaluations already conducted by the White House, known as the Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART). While these evaluations masquerade as neutral policy tools, both anecdotal evidence and a GAO report have found substantial subjectivity in PART evaluations. Even more distressing, programs have often been evaluated as ineffective for following the mandates of their authorizing statute. Behind Closed Doors The leading proposals make no provisions to ensure the participation of from the variety of stakeholders that will be impacted by the recommended changes. Another Bite at the Apple Congress already has the power to reorganize government programs when it determines the need to do so. Congress creates the agencies by statute in the first instance, and it revisits their effectiveness and continued existence each year through the budget process. Leading sunset commission proposals would usurp power from Congress by entrusting unelected commissions with important decisions about the structure and function of all government services. Such decisions are too important to be ripped from the representatives who have been democratically elected to make them. Decisions this crucial — about the priorities of the government on issues such as health care, retirement security, environmental protection, and even homeland security and defense — deserve the full debate and consideration of elected bodies. The proposals give the White House the power to ram its proposals through Congress and impose such severe limitations on debate that they would effectively muzzle elected representatives from speaking on these vital issues.