The Czar Administration
By Robert Farley
Published on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 5:26 p.m.
Related rulings:
"Obama has more czars than the Romanovs."
John McCain, Saturday, May 30th, 2009.
Ruling: True | Details
Bookmark this story:
Two of the Romanov czars. (There were 18 of them; they did not have a Stimulus Accountability Czar.)
How many czars does it take to run the federal government? More and more, it seems.
In a Twitter message on May 30, 2009, Sen. John McCain took this poke at the Obama administration:
"Obama has more czars than the Romanovs — who ruled Russia for 3 centuries. Romanovs 18, cyberczar makes 20."
First of all, yes, John McCain — the guy criticized during the presidential campaign for being computer illiterate — is tweeting.
But what about the czars? It sure seems like we keep reading about one czar after another being appointed to oversee the auto industry, the Great Lakes, and the closure of Gitmo, and we wondered: Just how many czars does the Obama administration actually have?
We did the math and checked the history. You'll find our report — and a list of the Obama czars — here.
Sources:
See Truth-O-Meter item.
Researchers: Robert Farley
Names in this story: John McCain, Barack Obama
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. For tips or comments on our campaign promise database, please e-mail the Obameter. If you are commenting on a specific promise, please include the promise number. For comments about our Truth-O-Meter or Flip-O-Meter items, please e-mail the Truth-O-Meter. We’re especially interested in seeing any chain e-mails you receive that you would like us to check out.
PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter. We’re also tracking more than 500 of Barack Obama’s campaign promises and are rating their progress on our new Obameter. >> More
Keep up to date with PolitiFact:
- Sign up for our e-mail (about once a week)
- Put a free PolitiFact widget on your blog or Web page
- Subscribe to our RSS feeds
- Add us to your iGoogle page
- Follow us on Twitter
- Fan us on Facebook
