January 8, 2009 3:51PM # Cass Sunstein and the Cato Institute By [Thomas A. Firey](https://www.cato.org/people/thomas-firey) --- SHARE The *Washington Post* [is reporting](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010704311.html) that Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein will be named director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the White House’s regulatory review office. The appointment is baffling, not because the Obama administration has chosen Sunstein (he is a first-rate thinker), but because Sunstein has (apparently) accepted it. OIRA chief is one of the [most thankless jobs in Washington](https://www.cato.org/2007/02/02/much-regulatory-ado-about-nothing/), and the office has historically shown itself to be [a victim of the political winds](https://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv29n2/v29n1-7.pdf) no matter how sharp-minded and sincere the chief is. Sunstein would not fit the label “libertarian,” but he is, in his own way, a [supporter of liberty](https://www.cato.org/2007/02/24/sunstein-hayek-and-wikipedia/). And he has been a good friend to the Cato Institute, [speaking here](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=4526) and writing for *Regulation* ([1](https://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv25n4/v25n4-9.pdf), [2](https://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv31n1/v31n1-3.pdf)). I wish Cass well in this difficult new job. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).