[See UPDATE below regarding the specifics of the violation]

Senator Henry Waxman has uncovered new indications that show the extent to which the Republican administration is co-opting the government of, by and for the people, and turning it into the government of, by and for the GOP.

John Walters, head of the Bush administration's non-partisan drug agency, and his deputies engaged in a campaign blitz on behalf of vulnerable Republican members of Congress ahead of last year's mid-term elections, according to documents released yesterday.

Karl Rove, the chief political strategist for President George W. Bush, singled out the efforts of officials at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which shapes US drug policy, at a White House meeting after the congressional election last November.

In documents and e-mails released by Henry Waxman, the Democratic chairman of the chief House oversight committee who is investigating the matter, Douglas Simon, the agency's White House liaison, congratulated officials at the ONDCP for having their "hard work" noticed by Mr Rove.

"The director and deputies deserve the most recognition because they actually had to give up time with their families for the God-awful places we sent them," Mr Simon said in a November 21 e-mail.

Other documents show that at the suggestion of Sara Taylor, the former White House political affairs director, Mr Walters and his deputies attended 20 events in the months leading up to the election for Republicans who were in danger of losing their seats.

Mr Waxman's probe is part of a broader investigation of allegations that federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, the General Services Administration and the Office of the Surgeon General, have been improperly politicised under the Bush administration.

These GOP actors are undermining our democratic process through the systematic politicization of agencies of the federal government -- as was revealed by the Department of Justice US Attorney firings -- and now it's obvious that the problems at the Department of Justice are just the tip of the iceberg.

UPDATE: Commenter kim suggests that the practices of King Bush described above are consistent with a representative Constitutional democracy.

As usual, the Emperor has no clothes, despite apologists who'd like to believe otherwise.

According to the Title VII Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998: H11225:

SEC. 704. APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTORS.

[...]

(5) Prohibition on political campaigning.--Any officer or employee of the Office who is appointed to that position by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may not participate in Federal election campaign activities, except that such official is not prohibited by this paragraph from making contributions to individual candidates.

So far, my research hasn't uncovered any Executive Orders or subsequent legislation or authorizations which circumvents the provision quoted above.

Go get 'em, Henry!