I was remiss in my earlier corrections to ignore Vergano’s careful nuance.

“Some want Obama to go further and make the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (historically a second job for the science adviser) part of his Cabinet. Neal Lane, who held both posts during President Bill Clinton’s second term, doesn’t think that’s necessary. But he agrees that regular access to the president and his Cabinet secretaries is essential. ‘The Cabinet table is pretty full already,’ says Lane, who emphasizes that Obama hasn’t solicited his advice. ‘As long as you’re invited to all the meetings, that’s all the status you need.’”

The crux of the point is that many in the science community would like to see the position be one of significant influence under the Obama administration. That is one of the most-discussed issues related to OSTP and the science adviser, but that of course is hardly the end of the discussion, as David has said on several occasions. The titles may be important for policymaking purposes, but they are clearly a way for the administration to send a signal that it will treat science in the public square differently than the Bush White House did.

Those who have argued for restoring status to the OSTP Director/Presidential Science Adviser have focused primarily on the Assistant to the President title. If they were arguing for Cabinet status, and this would actually be a restoration, I would think they’d have mentioned it.

The most recent National Academies report on presidential appointments in science and technology recommends Cabinet-level status, but doesn’t mention any science adviser ever having it. The letters sent to candidates Obama and McCain by several scientific societies advocating for Cabinet-level status failed to mention any previous advisers with that status.

And the piece that ran here by Dr. Lane not only failed to mention his Cabinet status, but doesn’t appear to share the interest in elevating the position.

“The adviser heads the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and has a role in every scientific matter — in today’s world that is to say, practically everything — the federal government touches.

Marburger wasn’t named until five months into the Bush administration, and held a lower rank. Past presidential advisers, such as Clinton science adviser Neal Lane, now at Rice University, suggest this made him a less powerful figure. Lane was not the head of a federal agency but enjoyed Cabinet status.”

What’s the evidence for this? Other arguments I’ve read advocating cabinet-level status have not mentioned this, and the usual arguments about having the Assistant to the President title don’t mention that Clinton had a cabinet-level OSTP Director.

In other words, I think this nugget would have seen a lot more mention than it has of late.