Science and Technology in the National Interest The Presidential Appointment Process (2000) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix
Appendix
Pages 13-22
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From page 14... ...
The Carnegie Commission report goes on to delineate the reasons that the new president needs direct and frequent access to trusted expertise in dealing with S&T issues. Providing this perspective is the reason for the office of Assistant to the President for Science and Technology.4 Because these issues require attention at the very outset of the new president's term (especially issues related to the first budget message)
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,Service to the Public: How Effective and Responsiveis the Govemment.7, 6AO/T-HRD-91-26 (Washington, DC: US General Accounting Of fife, May 8,1991.A broader finding of this report is that~good management requires stable leadership in key positions,and most government institutions fall short of that mark." encourage the White House, industry, academe, and disciplinary societies to work together in expanding the pool of candidates. In attracting the best S&Es for these leadership positions, the importance of presidential leadership is paramount, even where cabinet secretaries and agency heads take the lead in identification and recruitment.
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Science and technology appointees in the second year of the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations by background." Source. Data collected by the National Academies' Panel on Ensuring the Best Science and Technology Presidential Appointments.
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7651e ~ ~20 Compliance actions required of presidential appointees serving J u ne 1 979-Decem ber 1984. recruiting qualified talent for positions that require scientific and technical judgment.7 For those scientists and engineers who are willing to consider presidential appointments, a key barrier to the willingness of these people to take the next step are the unduly complex and restrictive preemployment and postemployment requirements.
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A qualified diversified trust is one that the Office of Government Ethics has judged to hold a widely diversified portfolio of readily marketable securities and to be free initially of securities of any entities having substantial activities in which the nominee has an interest. With respect to using both types of trusts, the forced sale of existing financial holdings that do not meet the criteria outlined above and reinvesting in one of the authorized trusts at what could be an inopportune time can still pose a problem.
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are extensive and constitute a source of uncertainty and sometimes inequity for those considering nominations to PAS positions. For example, agencies, departments, and Senate committees may issue or impose their own supplemental standards of ethical conduct, which are initially unknown to the nominee.
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7n On 1n a 4 months or less More than 4 months Time from First White House Contact to Senate Confirmation Note: Time to complete the presidential appointment process is defined in the report below as the time between first White House contact indicating consideration for appointment and Senate confirmation. Source: The Merit and Reputation of an Administrator:PresidentialAppointees on the PresidentialAppointments Process,page 8.The Brookings Institution end The Heritage Foundation,April 28,2000.
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From page 21... ...
Had I known that I was going to be a ship adrift in the sea, I probably would have taken more personal initiative to ensure that the matter was being pushed along."10 Among the questions asked of former presidential appointees in the Brookings Institution survey,11 many had to do with was how nominees are informed and assisted by White House personnel and with the quality of that experience. A number of responses identify features of the experience that would discourage SAT leaders from accepting the invitation to government service and that thereby could limit the pool of potential candidates.
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From page 22... ...
Unfortunately, the process today falls short in a number of respects. As indicated by Professor Mackenzie, Too many good people now decline Presidential appointments when they are offered, and, according to reports of recent Presidential personnel aides, recruiting difficulties seem to be growing....
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