Study Guide For 3-Day Unit On The President's Cabinet

Vocabulary (will be updated - keep watching)

Cloture

Filibuster (can’t be used in Senate confirmation hearings)

Nepotism

Cronyism

Conflict of interest

Bribery

Fraud

Ultracrepidarian

Kerfluffle

Vet/vetting

How the President-elect nominates Cabinet members:

With advisors, he develops a list of possible candidates

Members of his staff and investigative agencies “vet” the candidates; examples of what they would check are:

Confirm education and degrees

Check criminal record including lawsuits filed against candidate or candidate filed against someone else

Personal life (marriage, divorces, children – looking for scandals or problems that could be embarrassing if they became public)

Work history

Campaigns and public office history

Legislation sponsored or voted for/against that could be a problem

Ties to campaign contributors or vendors (examples: does the candidate own a TV station which ran her campaign ads at a discount or free?) (illegal) and similar situations

Personal beefs with anyone which could be a problem

Ability to speak effectively in public

Management experience (Cabinet members run huge agencies with hundreds of employees)

After the vetting process, the President-elect selects one nominee for each Cabinet post and makes it public knowledge.

Hearings are held in the corresponding Senate committee (Defense committee holds hearings for Defense nominee, etc.)

That committee votes to “send” the nominee to the full Senate, or recommend he/she be rejected

Hearings are held in the full Senate for each nominee.

The Senate votes on each nominee.

The new Cabinet member is sworn in.