People are policy? It matters who’s at the table.

Presidential Appointments 101

With each administration the president has the ability to appoint roughly 6000 people into a mix of both full-time & part-time positions.

These positions are not civil service jobs, they’re typically the leadership of agencies that come and go with each admin. #PeopleArePolicy

A majority of the full-time positions are in DC, however a number of federal agencies do have regional offices, and many of these have political appointment leadership.

Good examples of include the US Department of Agriculture and the small business admin. #PeopleArePolicy

Full-time political appointments are divided into 3 categories- it’s like a pyramid.

PAS- Presidentially Appointed & Senate confirmed. These are Senior leadership roles in agencies. Secretaries & Asst. Secretaries.

These are smallest # & top of the triangle. #PeopleArePolicy

Next are SES or Senior Executive Service. These are typically Senior advisors, Chiefs of Staff, some deputy secretaries, etc.

This is the middle section of the pyramid. #PeopleArePolicy

Last is the Schedule C appointees. This is the largest group.

These represent everything from schedulers, special assistants, up to senior advisors. These operate at the general services salary schedule up to a GS-15.

This and SES don’t require confirmation #PeopleArePolicy

If you’re looking into an appointment at a specific agency, what you want to be looking for is the release of the PLUM BOOK, which comes out with every administration change, and details the types of positions & the number of positions within each agency. #PeopleArePolicy

There are also part time appointments. These are boards/commissions & there are numerous ones that folks can be appointed to. Everything from the Kennedy Center Board to the National Council on Disability.

They vary in terms of commitment & requirements. #PeopleArePolicy

We will get a better idea of how the Biden administration will look given how the appointments start to look.

Eagerly anticipating an administration by the people and for the people. #PeopleArePolicy

Dangit! Forgot ambassadorships!

Not all ambassadorships are Presidential appointments, some are career Foreign Service Officers.

So before you ask to be nominated to Ambassador of St. Lucia, you should know that’s held down by a Career Diplomat. Sorry.

One last thing. Having the right folks in these appointments really matters.

Not everyone should have the same background or path. Diversity of all kinds matters.

As a community college grad & someone who went to @ucsc i had a different take than my colleagues sometimes.

Having Dylan Orr as the first transgender appointee in U.S. history, working at the Department of Labor mattered for so many employment fights.

@AntonJGunn as Mr Healthcare at HHS was the hype man of the ACA. It passed because everyone he talked to became an ambassador of it.

Having @KJennings at ed pushing for safe schools for ALL kids was groundbreaking.

Marie John’s work at SBA for increased $$ for small businesses during an economic recession helped with the recovery.

@SFdirewolf pushing NCD on hcbs laid the groundwork for today’s advocacy.

There are many ways that folks can give back. And our country needs us now. That means some may push on the inside and some on the outside.

It will take all of us. In a variety of roles. But we must remake these tables in a way that reflects the diversity of our nation.