White House Presidential Personnel Office Explained

Agency Name:White House Office of
Seal:US-WhiteHouse-Logo.svg
Chief1 Name:Gautam Raghavan
Chief2 Name:Stacey Eichner
Chief2 Position:Deputy Director
Parent Department:White House Office
Headquarters:Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Coordinates:38.8976°N -77.0391°W

The White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), sometimes written as Office of Presidential Personnel, is the part of the White House Office tasked with vetting new appointees.[1] [2] Its offices are on the first floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.[2] The PPO is one of the offices most responsible for assessing candidates to work at or for the White House.[3]

The Office is responsible for approximately 4,000 political appointment positions, of which 1,600 require Senate confirmation.[4] The White House Presidential Office recruits candidates to serve in departments and agencies throughout the Executive Branch. It presents candidates for presidential appointments with Senate confirmation (PAS) to the Senate after they have been approved by the President of the United States.[5] The mission of the office is to provide the president with the best applicants possible for presidency-appointed positions. Lastly, it also provides policy guidance for federal department and agency heads on conduct for political activities.

In 2018, the PPO was made up of about 30 members, about one-third of its usual staff. The professionalism of the PPO under President Trump was challenged, with The Washington Post reporting that the office was staffed with largely-inexperienced personnel.[2] [6] As of July 2021, the PPO under President Biden has returned to its usual staffing numbers, with about 80 people in the office.[7]

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Presidential Personnel Office include:

History

The White House Personnel Office (WHPO) was created by Frederick V. Malek in 1971 to standardize the White House's hiring process.[8] In 1974, President Gerald Ford renamed the WHPO to the Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) and restructured it to focus more on presidential appointments, relying more on department heads to secure non-presidential appointments in their departments.[9] [10]

On January 4, 2017, President Donald Trump named Johnny DeStefano Director of PPO in the incoming Trump administration.[11] On January 30, 2017, DeStefano wrote a letter to Acting Attorney General Sally Yates informing her of her dismissal.[12] DeStefano left the position on May 24, 2019.[13]

In January 2020, Trump appointed John McEntee Director of PPO,[14] reporting directly to Trump, who tasked him with identifying and removing political appointees and career officials deemed insufficiently loyal to the Trump administration.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] On October 21, 2020, two weeks before the 2020 elections, President Trump signed an executive order creating a new Schedule F category within the excepted service for employees “in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making and policy-advocating positions”. He also instructed agencies to identify and transfer competitive service employees that meet that description into the new job classification, an initiative that could strip hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their civil service protections and effectively make them at-will employees. Reviews by agencies are due at the PPO by January 19, 2021, a day before the end of the Trump presidency.[20]

Leadership

Notes and References

  1. Web site: White House Offices . The Presidential Personnel Office recruits, screens, and recommends qualified candidates for Presidential appointments to Federal departments and agencies. . . July 30, 2018 . January 6, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100106232207/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/off-descrp.html . live .
  2. News: Behind the chaos: Office that vets Trump appointees plagued by inexperience . . Robert . O'Harrow Jr. . Shawn . Boburg . March 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730050512/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/behind-the-chaos-office-that-vets-trump-appointees-plagued-by-inexperience/2018/03/30/cde31a1a-28a3-11e8-ab19-06a445a08c94_story.html . live .
  3. Book: Shirley Anne Warshaw. Powersharing: White House-Cabinet Relations in the Modern Presidency. SUNY Press. 978-1-4384-2331-9. 160. 2018-07-30. 2021-10-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027180343/https://books.google.com/books?id=TgwmXp6429QC&pg=PA160. live.
  4. News: Office that vets Trump appointees faces staff shortage, inexperience: report. Bowden. John. 2018-03-30. The Hill. 2018-12-04. en. 2018-12-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20181204151407/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/381008-office-that-vets-trump-appointees-faces-staff-shortage-inexperience. live.
  5. News: Presidential Departments The White House. The White House. 2018-12-04. en-US. 2020-11-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124160543/https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/internships/presidential-departments/. live.
  6. News: Office that vets Trump appointees faces staff shortage, inexperience: report . . John . Bowden . March 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . March 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180330194516/http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/381008-office-that-vets-trump-appointees-faces-staff-shortage-inexperience . live .
  7. News: Joe Biden's head of personnel is eyeing the exits. 2021-07-26. Politico. 2021-07-27. en-US. 2021-07-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20210726233427/https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2021/07/26/cathy-russell-eyes-exit-493717. live.
  8. News: . Nixon's Talent Hunter Also Wields Executive Hatchet . James M. . Naughton . July 12, 1971 . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730080821/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/12/archives/nixons-talent-hunter-also-wields-executive-hatchet.html . live .
  9. Book: Michael Nelson. Guide to the Presidency. 1 May 2015. Routledge. 978-1-135-91462-2. 492. 30 July 2018. 27 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027180332/https://books.google.com/books?id=fK_lCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA492. live.
  10. Web site: PRESIDENTIAL PERSONNEL OFFICE FILES, (1953–73) 1974–77 . July 30, 2018 . . February 16, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170216093323/https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/ppo.asp . live .
  11. Web site: Trump announces 11 more White House hires. Nussbaum. Matthew. Politico. en. 2019-10-11. 2019-10-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20191011205636/https://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/trump-white-house-hires-233189. live.
  12. Web site: Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Who Defied Him. Michael D.. Shear. Mark. Landler. Matt. Apuzzo. Eric. Lichtblau. 30 January 2017. The New York Times. 27 November 2020. 3 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180803104913/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/trump-immigration-ban-memo.html. live.
  13. News: Long-serving Trump aide DeStefano to depart White House. Dawsey. Josh. May 21, 2019. The Washington Post. June 15, 2019. Sonmez. Felicia. June 13, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190613014453/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/long-serving-trump-aide-destefano-to-depart-white-house/2019/05/21/a3faa8f8-7b4a-11e9-a66c-d36e482aa873_story.html. live.
  14. Web site: Tenpas. Kathryn Dunn. 2020-10-07. Tracking turnover in the Trump administration. 2020-10-09. Brookings Institution. 2018-06-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20180615011944/https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/. live.
  15. News: Haberman. Maggie. Maggie Haberman. 2019-12-14. Ex-Trump Aide Is Expected to Return to White House. The New York Times. 2020-10-08. 0362-4331. 2020-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201009154822/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/us/politics/john-mcentee-white-house.html. live.
  16. News: The New York Times. Shear. Michael D.. Haberman. Maggie. Maggie Haberman. Trump Places Loyalists in Key Jobs Inside the White House While Raging Against Enemies Outside. February 13, 2020. February 13, 2020. February 13, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200213152119/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/us/politics/trump-roger-stone.html. live.
  17. News: Trump embarks on expansive search for disloyalty as administration-wide purge escalates. The Washington Post. 2020-02-22. 2020-10-09. Toluse. Olorunnipa. Toluse Olorunnipa. Ashley. Parker. Ashley Parker. Josh Dawsey. Josh. Dawsey. 2020-02-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20200223064348/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/were-cleaning-it-out-trump-embarks-on-expansive-search-for-disloyalty-as-administration-wide-purge-escalates/2020/02/21/870e6c56-54c1-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html. live.
  18. News: 2020-02-21. 2020-10-09. President's new personnel head tells agencies to look out for disloyal staffers. Jeremy. Diamond. Jeremy Diamond. Jim. Acosta. Jim Acosta. Kaitlan. Collins. Kaitlan Collins. Kristen. Holmes. CNN. 2020-02-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20200223064924/https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/politics/john-mcentee-disloyal-white-house-staffers/index.html. live.
  19. News: In Trump’s final days, a 30-year-old aide purges officials seen as insufficiently loyal - The Washington Post . . 2020-11-25 . 2020-11-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201128090111/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-white-house-purge/2020/11/13/2af12c94-25ca-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html . live .
  20. Web site: 'Stunning' Executive Order Would Politicize Civil Service. Government Executive. 2020-11-27. 2020-11-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20201125020552/https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/10/stunning-executive-order-would-politicize-civil-service/169479/. live.
  21. Book: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Jimmy Carter, 1978, Book 2: June 30 to December 31, 1978. Government Printing Office. 978-0-16-058934-8. 1787. July 30, 2018. October 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027180317/https://books.google.com/books?id=i6IPy0Yi0ycC&pg=PA1787. live.
  22. Web site: JAMES, E. PENDLETON: Files, 1981–1982 – REAGAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS . When Reagan assumed the Presidency in January 1981, James became head of the Office of Presidential Personnel. . 1 . . October 5, 2016 . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730050448/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/archives/textual/smof/james.pdf . live .
  23. Web site: Robert Tuttle. www.reaganfoundation.org. 2021-08-19. 2021-08-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210819145830/https://www.reaganfoundation.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/robert-tuttle/. live.
  24. News: GEORGE H.W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY GUIDE TO HOLDINGS . 86 . Charles G. Untermeyer, Assistant to the President and Director 1/21/89–8/24/91 [...] Constance Horner, Assistant to the President and Director 1991–1993 . . March 8, 2011 . July 30, 2018 . September 17, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170917001128/https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/guide_to_holdings.pdf . live .
  25. Book: Shirley Anne Warshaw. The Clinton Years. 14 May 2014. Infobase Publishing. 978-0-8160-7459-4. 204. 30 July 2018. 4 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210504102045/https://books.google.com/books?id=kDPB1E07cnoC&pg=PA204. live.
  26. Web site: Board of Directors . . July 30, 2018 . In 1993, Bruce was also director of the Office of Presidential Personnel where he supervised the selection and approval of political appointees in the Cabinet departments and to Presidential boards and commissions. . May 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190504061843/https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about/board-directors . live .
  27. News: . Personnel chief Nancy Hogan to leave the White House . Jennifer . Epstein . June 25, 2013 . Hogan briefly served as chief of staff for White House personnel in early 2009, before taking the lead in the office in July 2009. . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730050638/https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2013/06/personnel-chief-nancy-hogan-to-leave-the-white-house-166919 . live .
  28. Web site: Press Release – White House Announces Nancy Hogan to Step Down; Jonathan McBride to Serve as Assistant to the President & Director of Presidential Personnel . July 8, 2013 . Nancy Hogan was appointed Director of the Presidential Personnel office in August, 2009. . . Gerhard . Peters . John T. . Woolley . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730050409/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=121635 . live .
  29. Web site: Tracking turnover in the Trump administration . 2020-11-25 . 2018-06-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180615011944/https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/ . live .
  30. Web site: Sean e. Doocey - Permanent Representative | U.S. Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization . 2020-11-27 . 2020-11-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201125110153/https://icao.usmission.gov/our-relationship/sean-e-doocey-permanent-representative/ . live .

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