Agency Appointment Questionnaire: Fill & Download for Free

Q. Does a present cabinet head have to be reconfirmed for a different department?A. A present Cabinet officer has to be reconfirmed to head a different department, which may be under the jurisdiction of a different Senate Committee.Leon Panetta, CIA director, unanimously confirmed by Senate as defense secretary (washingtonpost.com)Appointment confirmation process - BallotpediaAll presidential appointments with Senate confirmation (PAS) must follow the appointment confirmation process before taking office. The number of PAS positions varies by presidency but typically includes all executive department secretaries, undersecretaries, inspectors general and numerous other positions depending on the department. Other positions requiring confirmation can include positions in independent agencies and commissions.In total, there are between 1,200 and 1,400 PAS positions.The full list of positions for each presidency can be found in the corresponding United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions,commonly referred to as the Plum Book.Confirmation processNomination See also: Advice and ConsentBefore any nominations are made, the White House Office of Presidential Personnel vets a list of candidates, including suggestions provided by members of Congress and special interest groups. A chosen nominee then must pass through a series of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, the Office of Government Ethics and an ethics official from the agency to which the position is assigned.The nominee must also fill out the Public Financial Disclosure Report and questionnaires related to his or her background check.The process begins when the president provides a written nomination to the Senate, where it is read on the floor and assigned a number.This starts the Senate's procedure of "Advice and Consent" laid out in Article II of the U.S. Constitution for the appointment of high ranking officials by the president.Committee hearingsThe nomination is passed to the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the appointed position. Some PAS positions require a joint hearing of two or more committees.Committee hearings allow a close examination of the nominee, looking for partisanship and views on public policy. They can also summon supporters and opponents to testify. Committees are permitted to conduct their own investigations into the nominees, as they are not always provided with the information gathered by the White House's investigation.Once committee hearings are closed, most committees have a set amount of time before a vote is taken on whether the nominee is reported to the Senate favorably, unfavorably or without recommendation.They also have the option not to take action on the nominee. If action is taken, the committee notifies the executive clerk. The nomination is then given a number and added to the Executive Calendar of the Senate.Only one cabinet position since 1945 has been confirmed by the Senate after being reported as unfavorable by a committee. Henry A. Wallace was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 56-32 to become the secretary of commerce on March 1, 1945.Committee jurisdictionsThe following table outlines jurisdiction of the Senate committees in terms of the presidential appointment confirmation process. The left column indicates the Senate committee, and the right indicates the federal departments and administrations over which the committee has jurisdiction.Senate hearingsThe nomination must be on the Executive Calendar for more than one day before it can make it to the Senate floor for consideration.Unanimous consent of the time and date for debate must be agreed upon by all senators.If even one senator does not agree, a hold is placed on the nomination.Once the nomination is considered by the Senate, unlimited debate is allowed until two-thirds of the Senate vote to invoke cloture, closing debate.Following a vote of cloture, the Senate conducts a simple majority vote on whether to confirm, reject or take no action on the nomination.If a nomination is left pending at the end of a Congress, it must be sent back to the president who can then re-submit the nomination to the new Congress.The same procedure holds true with any nominee not considered before the Senate enters a recess of more than 30 days, unless there is unanimous consent to bypass the procedure.

After my third child was born I went in to my OB/GYN for a planned follow up postpartum well visit.The nurse did all the preliminary chat and took weight, height and blood pressure. Nurse also handed me a form to complete.The form was a sort of standard postpartum questionnaire that would alert the physician of any red flags associated with postpartum depression.The nurse took my completed form with her and said she’d give it to the doctor that would be in to chat with me and check me out in a bit.This is the part where I take out my book and can probably get some good reading time in because let’s be honest, that doctor is probably in with a patient that’s two appointment slots ahead of me so she still has someone else to see after that before she gets to the room I’m cozied up in.She arrived within two minutes. It turns out the nurse goes through the questionnaire responses. Essentially grades my survey. The questions/answers are in the 1: completely disagree 5: completely agree format.My score was off the charts.Red flags everywhere.I didn’t “feel” depressed in any way. I wasn’t the happiest person in the world but I thought I was fine. My baby knew how to latch on to the boob really well. My ex was off with his new soul mate but that prompted all my people to double down on offering help so I had lots of support. Baby slept, I slept.Actually, I slept a lot. I remember her probing about the amount of sleep I was getting. It was a lot. My toddler son took afternoon naps like a champ, I’d get in bed at that time too, the new baby in her crib nearby and if she woke up, I’d get her into bed with me and nurse her back to sleep.My doctor did not hear a wonderful story of motherhood. She saw red flags everywhere.My doctor was lovely. Relatable and smart so I trusted her opinion.She explained the red flags the questionnaire raised and asked follow up questions. Those pushed me to the edge I didn’t know I was near. I cried. So much crying.She strongly suggested I get to the ER immediately. She would call and alert them of my arrival. There, I could see an expert that will further diagnose me and help me start a treatment plan for what appears to be severe post partum depression.She said if I didn’t go, it was my choice, but she would be obligated to have a social service agency conduct a well check on my new baby in the next day or so.I went to the ER as she suggested, not to avoid social services, but because I trusted she was right about her preliminary diagnosis and I would want to get the right help as quickly as possible.I did ok. All the little humans I was responsible for back then are still alive and well today. Medication was suggested but as a nursing mom I didn’t want to take a chance in ingesting that stuff. I became more active and enlisted friends to keep me accountable for eating well and getting some exercise and sun.I don’t know what not heeding her advice would have resulted in but the slight look of fear I saw in her eyes when she entered the examination room with my questionnaire in hand tells me I don’t want to know.

We adopted in the US via domestic infant adoption. We filled out a questionnaire stating what situations we were open to (race, gender, future birth family involvement, health history, etc). Whenever an expecting mom considering adoption contacted the agency, she would provide them with a list of what she was looking for in an adoptive family. If we met her requirements, then she was shown our profile, which is basically a scrapbook of your life and what a child’s life would be like in your family. Once she chose us as her top pick, the agency contacted us and gave us an overview of her situation. Then it was up to us to decide whether or not we wanted to meet her.During the three years we were a waiting prospective adoptive family, we met four expecting moms and emailed with two more. After meeting each of the four women for lunch, we had to decide whether we wanted to match with them and move forward with the plan being we would adopt the child once he/she was born if the birth family still wanted to place their child with us. The first woman we met and matched with changed her mind about the time she had her baby. The second woman we met didn’t seem completely decided on adoption so we decided not to match at that time. I believe she probably chose to parent. The third woman we met seemed like the perfect match to our family, but she chose a family that lived closer so she could have more frequent contact with her child.When we met the fourth woman, we didn’t think the meeting had gone well. She had some pretty serious questions that I felt like I fumbled answers to. However, she really liked us and wanted to move forward and we agreed. Over the next two months, we had lunch and visited with her every couple weeks. It was a good chance to get to know each other better. We also used that time to come up with a name together. She allowed us to attend doctor appointments, and she allowed me to be in the delivery room. Then we spent two weeks living in the NICU, where we continued to visit with our son’s birth mom, and she got to know us even better but also what kind of parents we were and how much we loved our son.In the end, we didn’t pick our child as much as his mom chose us.