Political Appointee Advocacy & Support

The confirmation process is an adversarial proceeding conducted in public with no rules of evidence. Candidates who prepare for it as a paperwork exercise are the ones who get surprised.

We advise nominees and appointees through every stage of federal service — from the initial vetting questionnaire to the post-employment restrictions that follow them out the door. This is not routine compliance work. A financial disclosure error becomes a false statement allegation; an unresolved conflict becomes a recusal that hollows out the job; a decade-old business relationship becomes a hearing question with a camera on it.

Before nomination, we conduct the vetting the client should do before anyone else does it: a full review of financial holdings, prior positions, public statements, litigation history, tax matters, and household employment. We identify what is disqualifying, what is manageable, and what simply needs an answer prepared. We then handle the paperwork that flows from it — the SF-278 or OGE Form 278e, the SF-86 background investigation questionnaire, and the committee questionnaires, which are frequently more searching than either.

Through confirmation, we negotiate ethics agreements with the designated agency ethics official and the Office of Government Ethics, structure divestitures and blind trusts, obtain certificates of divestiture where they are available, and prepare the nominee for courtesy visits, staff interviews, and the hearing itself. Where a nomination becomes contested, we coordinate the legal, legislative, and communications response as one effort.

During and after service, we counsel on the criminal conflict of interest statutes, recusal and screening obligations, gift and travel rules, the Hatch Act, and the post-employment restrictions in 18 U.S.C. § 207 that determine what an official can do for the rest of their career. We also represent officials and former officials facing inspector general inquiries, Office of Special Counsel matters, congressional investigations, and criminal referrals arising from official conduct.

What we handle

• Pre-nomination vetting and risk assessment
• OGE Form 278e and SF-86 preparation
• Senate committee questionnaire response
• Ethics agreement negotiation and conflict resolution
• Divestiture, blind trust, and certificate of divestiture matters
• Confirmation hearing preparation
• Recusal, screening, and section 208 counseling
• Hatch Act and political activity guidance
• Inspector general and Office of Special Counsel defense
• Section 207 post-employment restriction counseling

Who we represent

• Presidential nominees requiring Senate confirmation
• Non-career SES and Schedule C appointees
• Board, commission, and advisory committee members
• Senior career officials with ethics exposure
• Departing officials planning private-sector transitions
• Former officials facing post-service inquiries