50 Tips for Presidential Appointees
Useful Advice on Advancing President Trump's Agenda and Succeeding Professionally
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Every presidential appointee is a staffer.
That includes the most junior ranked Schedule C working (possibly) in the basement of a federal building, to the secretaries of the cabinet departments.
That’s because, as you can read in this explainer on “The Constitution and Presidential Appointees,” only one person is legally vested with the powers of the presidency and control over the executive branch: the president.
The president is who every appointee works for and answers to, even if there are many layers of leadership in between, and even if an appointee never meets the president during their time serving in his administration.
Some senior appointees don’t get the message.
A bad senior appointee thinks their job is to run their organizations or offices as they see fit, staff them with their own people (even if they have a history of disparaging the president and are not aligned with his policies), and tell the president what needs to happen or why the president’s policy goals can’t be implemented.
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis had this problem.
Both men thought they knew better than President Trump in the realms of defense and foreign policy, and when they couldn’t convince President Trump in his first term to go along with their ideas, they either obstructed and slow walked his agenda, or disloyally did what they wanted to do in defiance of the president, while maligning him publicly and privately through leaks to the media.
Each suffered a justly deserved fate of being fired by President Trump, along with others throughout the first term who didn’t understand, that at the end of the day, they were just a staffer to the president.
Since every appointee is a staffer, there are series of things each appointee must understand and do to be the best appointee possible.
I’ve listed 50 below, and if you have additional ideas, please write them in the comments or send me an email and I’ll add them in a future newsletter.
50 Tips for Appointees
Remember who you work for: the President of the United States, who is the only person in the executive branch elected by the American people.
Also remember who you don’t work for: special interests, your former employers or clients, the legislative branch, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, other politicians, the Republican party, or yourself.
Understand as an appointee you’ll be seen as a representative of the president and the administration. What you do impacts how well the admin succeeds and how it is remembered in history. So behave accordingly, and read this newsletter on “Being the President’s Representative” to learn more.
When you become an appointee, you leave your old life behind and become a federal employee, which subjects you to strict rules of behavior. Know all your legal and ethical obligations, and follow them. Understand that engaging with former employers and colleagues can create ethical and legal issues related to conflict of interest, and can hurt the admin.
Know who you should talk to in your organization’s General Counsel’s office if you have any legal questions, and get guidance in writing when needed. It has to be in writing. Simply saying “so-and-so told me I could do it or it would be okay” isn’t going to hold up in court or the press. Know your obligations under the Hatch Act, know the rules surrounding gifts, know your organization’s travel policies, and abide by all three.
If you’re ever contacted by someone from the Inspector General (IG) office regarding any sort of investigation, you must immediately contact your organization’s Chief of Staff and lead political attorney in the General Counsel’s office before responding. Read this newsletter on IG investigations and your rights, obligations, and how to react if this happens to you.
Know your mission and understand your only job is to implement the president’s agenda as efficiently and successfully as possible. To do this, you must clearly understand what the president wants to accomplish, which means paying attention to his policy statements, studying his executive orders, and the relevant strategy documents coming out of the White House.
Learn your specific department’s or agency’s mission, authorities, structure, policy-making processes, task management systems, and culture, as soon as possible. They are essential to master.
Do not trust anyone to explain your or your organization’s authorities until after you have read the relevant law, regulation, or manual yourself. Then strive to leverage these authorities to meet the president’s goals. As an appointee you have a responsibility to know these authorities better than anyone else.
You can advise President Trump directly if you’re in a position to do so, or at the very least his administration’s leadership in your department or agency. You should engage in candid and thoughtful deliberation when you disagree or think there is a better way to accomplish the president’s policy goals. You need to have the courage to speak up, because the back-and-forth process helps craft better policy and implementation plans. Do so professionally and appropriately, which means calmly (“disagree without being disagreeable”) in closed door meetings or documents (info papers, etc.) that are kept private. Then, once a decision is made, you must execute in good faith and with your best effort, whether you fully agree or not, because that is your job and you swore an oath to do so. If you are unwilling, then you have a moral obligation to resign so someone who is willing to faithfully implement the president’s agenda can do so.
Never do anything in your professional or personal life that can embarrass the president. This is Rule #1 of being an appointee. The minute you’re in the media because of something you’ve done, your job is on the line, since you’ve just created a problem for the president, your immediate boss, and the administration as a whole. If it’s simply because you’re being attacked for successfully implementing presidential policy, it’s generally not going to be a problem because everyone understands you’re just being targeted to stop you from carrying out the president’s business. But if you behaved unprofessionally, broke the law, had emails or documents released that showed you were not complying with administration policy or were trying to get around the law, or did something disreputable in your personal life, then your chances of being forced to resign or fired significantly increase. So never lose your cool, always comply with your legal and ethical obligations, don’t get drunk or behave badly in public, and keep your mouth shut and your head down while working assiduously to support the president.
Stay in your lane. Master your specific area of responsibility and understand how it fits into the broader interagency and White House process. Don’t step outside your lane and get involved or speak out on something if it’s not part of your portfolio unless invited to do so by someone in a position of authority over that portfolio. Focus on doing your job, not someone else’s.
Communicate thoughtfully and practice careful communications. I have three must read newsletters on this topic (here, here, and here). If you study them and follow the advice, it’ll keep you safe and employed, and you’ll be helping to make the admin the best it can be. Remember: all executive branch email (outside the White House) is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Recognize there is no such thing as confidential communications in government. If it can get out, it will. Be ready to navigate the political and media firestorm.
If you’re not in a public-facing role that involves dealing with the media, then you should never engage with the media in any way whatsoever. Don’t think a single journalist calling your phone cares about you or the public good. Their goal is to churn out content for money, and that means scouring up bad news and scandals because people naturally want to read about controversy and problems, and not about all the great things the administration is doing to make America better. Refer all media requests to your organization’s public communications office.
If you’re not in a Congress-related position in your department or agency, be careful about taking a question or performing an action on behalf of a member of Congress or their staff. Refer the matter to your organization’s Congressional Affairs office for them to handle instead.
If you get an inquiry from a White House staffer or office, you must coordinate the request with your principal and the Secretary’s office so they have awareness and can help prioritize as appropriate. The Secretary’s front office (or ExecSec) is the conduit for implementing the president’s agenda in your organization. Keep your leadership informed about any and all White House contacts and let them know who exactly and what office. Just saying “the White House called” doesn’t work. Respect the chain of command: your direct report boss, the Secretary, and the leadership between them.
If you’re at the White House, remember that while you’re not subject to FOIA or IG investigations, the people you interact with in the line departments and agencies will be. Any email or document you send will become a permanent part of that organization’s records, and can be released under FOIA. Consider making lots of phone calls instead and only putting in writing what can’t be communicated otherwise.
Protect your principal (boss). Don’t let them get surprised. Don’t bury problems. If bad news exist, whether that is an upcoming media story or a critical internal problem, then let them know rounds are incoming. Bad news doesn’t age well.
When informing your principal of a problem, be sure to have solutions ready. Your boss will have plenty of problems to deal with already, so don’t come unprepared and without a way forward.
Don’t ever put words in your boss’s mouth or add to what they say. Doing so can put them in a bad spot. Your boss is your boss for a reason, so let them speak for themselves unless expressly directed otherwise.
Anticipate your principal’s needs, spot potential problems early, and help your boss stay out of trouble. Be a “fixer” and a filter, not just a note-taker.
Always embrace your role in protecting your principal and take on any tasks they have assigned you with focus, discipline, and endurance. Concentrate on doing your current job and not politicking for your next.
Always be professional. That requires not getting mad and losing your cool and also being humble and stoic when you think your may have been slighted. Career staff are watching everything you do and say and some will file it away to use later to harm you or the administration if they’re able to do so. Check your ego at the door, don’t seek attention or credit, and stay mission-focused. Remember, the person makes the job, not the title, and make the most of your opportunity.
Always act with integrity. Character matters and while being the deliverer of bad news may cause an initial adverse reaction, recognize this is temporary, and your boss will appreciate that fact you’re able to tell him or her the truth.
If you don’t know an answer, say so directly, and take it as an action. Find it out and do a quick follow up with your boss so they have the information they need.
Be hyper-responsive. Respond quickly, follow up relentlessly, and meet deadlines. Speed matters in the federal environment and politics.
Follow up on tasks and don’t let them linger. These are your own tasks but also those assigned to career employees.
One of the most used techniques of bureaucrats is to slow-walk things. Always set deadlines for when work must be done and check-in regularly on progress. Nothing will get done without a deadline. If the work isn’t done ask why and what is needed to get it done. Hold yourself, your team, and the careers accountable.
Know your authorities and what you can do. Often times a bureaucrat will tell you something can’t be done, but if you ask “Can you direct me to where in the law or organization’s policy regulations it says we have to do X?” the answers becomes, “Well, that’s how we’ve always done it.” In other words, there’s no reason why you can’t do what it is you want to do, and you’re just being obstructed. Now there may be a good but unknown reason why a particular practice is used, even if there is no formal rule behind it, but you must know what that is and do your analysis on whether it is the optimal way before simply doing what has always been done just because a career bureaucrat says so.
As a new appointee, there will be many things that go on in your organization that you need to know about, but won’t be told about. You need to be proactive in finding them out as quickly as possible.
Embrace your role as a change agent. That’s what you’re there to be, someone who helps the president and his designated leadership steer the federal bureaucracy in the direction it needs to go. That means realigning policies, spending, and other department/agency resources away from the wrong priorities.
Learn how to ask the right questions. One trick crafty careers use is they will not offer helpful information and will wait for you to ask the right questions. Read this newsletter on Questions for Presidential Appointees so you know how to not get delayed or thrown off implementing the president’s agenda. And remember, you don’t learn by talking, but by asking.
Time is your most important resource, so you use it carefully. Get in early, stay late, and always be grinding. There are 1,461 days in a presidential administration and J.D. Vance succeeding President Trump isn’t guaranteed. Make every day count and at the end of each ask yourself what you did to move the ball forward.
Be dependable. Whether it’s a meeting or just the start of the work day, show up at the right time, at the right place, wearing the right outfit, with the right documents/materials, and the right attitude. And always complete your taskers on time or early. If you’re going to be late, give others the heads up.
Don’t create drama at work or in your personal life.
If you or someone you know is up for an appointment, do not talk about it. Nominations or appointments can be derailed if news gets out before the official announcement.
Be politically astute. Recognize the political landscape and understand the political implications of what you do. Your role is to implement the administration’s agenda while respecting legal constraints and navigating the political environment. If you’re young or inexperienced in politics seek out an appointee mentor and keep your eyes and ears open so you can learn as much as you can about how Washington works.
Read my Presidential Appointee Reading List series (Part I and Part II) to get started on a professional reading program to help you understand your role.
Find out what training opportunities related to your job are available in your department or agency and take them. Get the handbook for how the organization runs and study it in-depth.
Bureaucratic resistance can take many forms. Read James Sherk’s masterpiece Tales from the Swamp: How Federal Bureaucrats Resisted President Trump, to learn of the specific tactics bureaucrats will use to stymie implementation of the president’s policies, including (but not limited to): 1) withholding information; 2) refusing to implement policies; 3) intentionally delaying or slow-walking priorities; 4) deliberately underperforming; 5) leaking to Congress and the media; and 6) outright insubordination. These tactics (Sherk calls them “The Hostile Career Staff Playbook”) are essential to know so you understand what is happening and can be prepared to counter them.
Don’t talk politics in front of careers or tell any “spicy,” “edgy,” or inappropriate jokes at work. The simplest comment may result in an employee filing a formal grievance and the start of an IG investigation, which can result in a time-consuming investigation along with personal embarrassment, even if no ill intent was intended. The careers are watching, listening, and recording.
Don’t ever ask a career to get you coffee, lunch, or carry out any personal favors. It can be used for a complaint or investigation that you’re inappropriately using them to carry out tasks outside the scope of their work responsibilities.
Avoid unnecessary travel. Scrutinize travel opportunities the career staff recommends. Chances are you don’t need to do it and doing so gets you out of the office and away from productive work.
Take good notes and write up minutes when appropriate regarding the content of meetings or instructions. This avoids having others misinterpret or falsely portray what was said, and by memorializing the information, you’re able to use it in the future to check on progress and compliance.
Do your best to build good relationships with career employees. Most have been there before you arrived and will be there when you leave. They often will know the rules better than you and how to survive and thrive under those rules. Figure out who is not hostile and leverage their capabilities and knowledge to implement the president’s agenda. Move the hostiles out of positions of influence.
Create clear expectations for the careers who work for you and hold them accountable. If you have no supervisory authority over any careers and cannot discipline, keep records so you can inform leadership of their actions and behavior, which helps senior appointees sort out the good from the bad.
Do not make private disagreements public. Don’t ever publicly disagree with any policy decision by the president or any final decision of your department or agency or your leadership. Support at all times the decision-making that comes from the president and his appointed leadership.
Get plenty of sleep, exercise, eat well, and don’t drink to excess. While time is your greatest resource, you need copious amounts of energy to successfully fill that time as best you can, so you can get the president’s work done. If you’re hungover at work or and not taking care of yourself and boosting your energy levels to the greatest extent possible, then your not going to be using your available time in the most optimal way possible.
Stay resilient. Washington, D.C. can be a brutal town and by becoming an appointee you're a target, meaning everything you do will be scrutinized. You’ll face chaos, long hours, high stakes, and lots of criticism and hate. The target is the president, but you are the means his enemies will use to hurt him. Stay calm under pressure, always be on your best behavior, and be willing to do the tough and right things. Don’t let the negative media and political environment paralyze you from getting things done, but let it inform how you behave, approach things, and the standards you set for yourself and your team. If you are not ready or willing to accept the reputational risk of being an appointee, then this is not the right job for you, and consider finding something new.
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Bill Short
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