In 1903 PD, de la Sangliere was asked by Hereditary President Sidney Harris to replace the assassinated Walter Frankel as Secretary of the Economy, and despite his considerable efforts to decline the appointment, he eventually gave in and took over the task of supervising the crumbling Havenite economy.
In 1904 PD, de la Sangliere argued that the only alternative to cutting down the Basic Living Stipend's increase rate was to reduce the military budget by at least ten percent, which met with Secretary of War Elaine Dumarest's instant opposition. He also warned of possible retaliation from the CRU if they did have a hand in murdering Frankel.
However, as neither reducing military spending nor freezing the BLS were acceptable options for the government, de la Sangliere insisted that the People's Republic's economic base needed to be expanded if all expenses were to be paid. However, he preferred to avoid military conflict with Manticore if possible, and to go directly to the systems in the Silesian Confederacy and beyond. When the alternative was dismissed by the Cabinet as impossible, he noted that actual war could help the government freeze the BLS, as the Dolist Managers always accepted temporal freezings of the Stipend during military operations.