Week 1 – Assignment: Assess the Nomination and Confirmation Processes for Federal Agencies' Executive Leadership

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Week 1

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Evaluating Senior Executives and Political Appointees

The U.S. federal government is made up of a significant amount of departments and

agencies. The secretary of each department is a political appointee that is appointed by

the President of the United States and confirmed by Congress through confirmation

hearings that are publicly aired. Upon confirmation, each senior executive leader has

responsibility for their respective department’s missions and objectives. Secretaries each

have deputies that help facilitate the organization’s business at the head quarter’s level.

Within each department below the head quarter’s level are various agencies, which are

also led by political appointees at the undersecretary level. Below that are deputy

undersecretaries, chiefs of staff, and another senior executive service (SES) professionals

and other government employees.

Figure 1. U.S. federal government departments and agencies

The senior executives are responsible for the overall mission of each agency and each

office. The organizational structures of each agency are usually complex and have

different layers and offices that are tasked with sub-level mission sets that constitute the

larger agency and department missions. The same is true with state-level governments. All

public agencies usually have different layers of authority that oversee different

component of the organization’s mission.

This week, you will evaluate the roles and responsibilities of senior executives within the

U.S. federal government. You will assess the different components within a federal

department to understand the enormity of each department and the leadership

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Books and Resources for this Week

Blaskova, M., Adamoniene, R., &

Petrauskiene, R. (2017). Appliance of

public senior executives competences

for municipality activity efficiency... Link

Light, P. C. (2015). Back to the future

on presidential appointments. Duke

Law Journal, 64, 1499. Link

requirements for running a major public organization. It is important to recognize the

different levels of government, the function of each federal department and agency, and

the steps involved in managing public agencies, especially those that provide a direct

service to the public. To understand how these federal agencies work, you must first

recognize the organizational structure, leaders, and strategies employed.

Be sure to review this week's resources carefully. You are expected to apply the

information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

Heads-Up to the Signature Assignment

Your culminating Signature Assignment (due in Week 8) will be a reflection of all that you

have learned within the course, and it may require that you complete some work ahead of

time. To ensure you are prepared and have adequate time to complete this assignment,

please review the instructions by looking ahead to Week 8. You can contact your

professor if you have questions.

For your Signature Assignment, you will serve as a state government coordinator for a

new state-wide initiative in an effort to consolidate critical resources based on

governmental mandate and budget reduction.

83.33 % 5 of 6 topics complete

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Mayer, M. (2018). Political appointees

must do better. U.S. News - The

Report, 26–27. Link

Obama, B. (2015). Executive Order

13714--Strengthening the Senior

Executive Service. Daily Compilation of

Presidential Documents, 1–5. Link

Solomon, I. G., Costea, C., & Nita, A. M.

(2016). Leadership versus management

in public organizations. Economics,

Management & Financial Markets... Link

Week 1 – Assignment: Assess the Nomination and

Confirmation Processes for Federal Agencies'

Executive Leadership Assignment

Due October 31 at 11:59 PM

Executive leadership in the public sector is affected by complex challenges. Executive

leaders often struggle with making decisions that affect millions of Americans. The

decisions they make must be the results of sound judgment and strategies. For this

assignment, you are the chairperson for a special advisory committee on executive

leadership that serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States. Your goal for

this assignment is to identify and recommend an individual to the President of the United

States for the cabinet position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Prepare a

PowerPoint presentation that addresses the following:

1. Describe the selectee’s professional experiences and expertise.

2. Explain the qualities of the selected, and then explain why you recommend this

person’s nomination to the President of the United States.

3. Assess the selectee’s professional record and justify any potential reason(s) this

individual might not be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

4. Explain the confirmation process.

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Length: 5-7 slides, not including title and reference slides

References: Include a minimum of 5 scholarly resources.

Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts

that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly

to this topic. Your response should reflect graduate-level writing and APA standards. Be

sure to adhere to Northcentral University's Academic Integrity Policy.

Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.