Smoothing the way for nominees.
Latest Updater 3 July 2002

To obtain a copy of the software, go to the

The Need

In its final report released in 1996, the Twentieth Century Fund's Task Force on Presidential Appointments described the nomination process faced by presidential appointees as a "maelstrom of complexity." There are "too many questions, too many forms, too many clearances," it concluded. The Presidential Nomination Forms Online Project reduces the cumbersome, redundant, and often opaque qualities currently characterizing the presidential appointments process.

The Program

Our project will supply nominees with information on the operation of the appointments process as well as provide them a software package designed to reduce the duplication of effort sometimes involved in the process of filling out the forms.

A Simplified Form. The software package, NFO, provides nominees with the forms they will need along with an easy to use interface that allows them to answer questions once. Nominees will be able to easily download the software from our website. The software provides an online manual to explain the software and to answer questions about the process. In an effort to ease the process for appointees, the software package will provide indexing, searching within the manual, and hyperlinks among related topics, or topics addressed in more than one place.

Online Information For Appointees. White House 2001 provides useful online information that assists the nominee in traversing the process. We provide links to sites providing materials for nominees; rules, regulations, orientation materials, and guidance of agencies concerning the appointment process; and analytical information walking appointees through the process.

• Nominee Preparations. This site provides useful information for prospective nominees. It includes a compilation of the questions they must answer as part of the vetting process whether in the White House, the FBI, or the US Senate.

• Links, Rules, and Regulations. The first will be a series of links to sites important for nominees, such as a link to the site sponsored by the Office of Government Ethics. It includes materials and regulations indicating what practices nominees should follow, including what rules they are governed by once they assume their positions. The site will also contain materials relevant to the nomination and confirmation processes, including all relevant statutes, agency and White House regulations as well as rules governing employment once they take office.

• A Narrative Walk Through the Nomination Process. Because nominees often complain of how complicated the process appears to be, we will provide a narrative walk-through of the nomination process with its individual steps laid out accompanied by supporting information identifying and describing each stage. [Yet to be published]

A Nonpartisan Project Designed by Presidency Scholars.

Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a foundation known for the stature of its projects and the nonpartisan nature of its organization, the project has a special objectivity. The 25 presidency scholars on the board of the Presidential Appointments Project are not associated with a particular candidate for President or persons seeking positions with the incoming administration. They are members of the Presidency Research Group, a division of the American Political Science Association, which supports the project.