WASHINGTON (CNN) - Behind the scenes they're tearing out their hair.
Nominees for top positions in the Obama administration say they are put on seemingly endless hold for months during the "vetting" process, forced to provide minute details of their financial, personal and professional lives going back years. Many have to hire lawyers and accountants – paid for with their own money – to compile the information. Some nominees have simply given up in frustration.
Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says it's affecting U.S. diplomatic relations.
"It's hard to explain in my position to our foreign counterparts that we don't have positions filled that would be the natural interlocutors or their counterparts in other countries," she said Thursday.
It's the third time this week the secretary has lambasted the process. Monday, she called it "frustrating beyond words," telling staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development who still don't have a new administrator, the process is a "nightmare."
Wednesday, in a major foreign policy speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton was at it again: "I mean, we are trying to get our political leaders in place to work with our very dedicated Foreign Service and Civil Service employees, but we're still not there yet. And I had no idea when I was in the Senate asking a million questions of every nominee – how really shortsighted that was."
Thursday, at a press availability, the Secretary told CNN, "Most (foreign) governments, after they are elected, are up and going in a relatively short period of time. We are now six months into our new administration and it's not only here but across the government where they don't have critical positions filled. I think it's pretty obvious that the process has gotten much more complicated, cumbersome and lengthy and that is something that I hear from everyone. And it is a matter that we're going to have to address."
Clinton added that it's not just the Obama administration and it's not happening just at the State Department or USAID. The situation has been getting worse with every administration. But some political observers say President Obama's new ethics rules make it even more challenging to get through the process.
In spite of the frustration, at the USAID town hall Clinton managed to find some ironic humor in the predicament: "… here's one of the questions you get asked: first of all, you have to remember everywhere you've lived since you were 18. And, beyond a certain age you can't even remember when you were 18!"
From CNN Politics
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HIllary is going to quit as Secretary of State. She is frustrated and hand-cuffed by this administration. She is being pushed so far into the background that she is being rendered ineffective. She'll announce by end of summer.
Maybe if they'd done a better job vetting his first few nominations (who turned out to be tax cheats), they wouldn't have to be so extreme now.
Good for her. No point saying "yes" all the time to this buffoon.
Hillary – it IS the OBAMA (LACK OF) ADMINISTRATION. He simply doesn't DO anything. He's too busy date nighting, Flying around the world with his family, playing baseball, and eating Burgers., WHEN will he WORK??? Maybe someday SOON he'll visit that White House OFFICE which he drooled for and START THE JOB!!!!
Seems the Obama Administration can't do anything proper. Just case in point SOS Clinton, was the better choice in 2008, and hopefully she will be an option in 2012. So we might rid the nation of this waste of a term Obama is proving to be.
200+ years of process and fighting between the repubs and dems has created a process that is not getting done its intended task
we need to scale back the processes and the government
It is the system that is lacking the morale...not the obama administration. or else, what, simple, judge of supreme court position, take for instance, how wastage of time and money they are investing...despite she is well qualified....Lobbyists, from NRA this and that, whether it is obama or some other administration it is the same...you need to understand...it is the system flaw...not particularly one administration...ok...it is the system...fault...you are right..some times it is frustration....system needs to be changed...like lot of other things....I think, pres. Obama needs to stop hiring any further and concentrate on Economy...Health care and energy independence...and immigration...nation is in dire danger..with all these gripes...
Wake-up Hillary – obama doesn't want these positions filled! He'll just appoint more czars – you know people who don't have to be approved by congress or the American taxpayer. Makes it easier for him to destroy our country.
Hilliary you got beat. plain & simple you lost. I know you crave the limelight, you want attention but you lost. So get on board quit crying & start doing the job the American public expects.
Thanks Hillary. I know next to Palin you're the most hated woman in America. It's a shame cause you don't deserve it. Thanks for pushing back and letting everybody know you're not addicted to the kool-aid.
And to think that the media once tried to sell America on Obama's historical vetting process. Only morons believe what journalista say today. Congradulations CNN..
This is true President material. All the others is also rand and the other is a product of ignorance.
Rahm,
Rather than trying to figure out how to "back-bench" Secretary Clinton, I suggest your people get on this problem and FIX IT.
Let's not be Republicanesque obstructionists--there is much, much work to do!
The problem is exacerbated when the best the Demcorats have to offer are so unpatriotic (according to V.P. Biden) that they won't even pay their taxes.
Of course, that's only logical... as liberals, they want EVERYONE ELSE to pay for their pet projects, they're not willing to pay themelves.
Would she have just filled the seats to fill them???
Would she have had anyone vetted???
I think she has envy problems yet undiscovered.
Why did Obama deny or refuse Americans to administer the same type of vetting process as a presidental candidate? On his first day in office, Obama signed Executive Order 13489. It says that only the AG and Council to the president are able to review presidential requests and determine if they can be made public or not. In other words, you arent going to see any records or documents that Obama doesnt want you to see. It shouldnt surprise anyone that Obamas first official act was to deny access to his records. During a speech, Obama said: I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable. For more than two years, Obama has employed teams of lawyers in a dozen states to hide the truth surrounding his birth,college, travel and medical records. We have a sitting president who has lived all his life without leaving any footprints-NONE! Narcissist-In-Chief Obama may be the most mysterious and secretive president in American history, inexperienced and arguably unqualified!
thats the job created by Obama........... more and more questions means more earnings for lawyers....... isn't it a job creation ?
why don't we have referendum election every year to judge the president's performance? oh well, Obama is win that...because the only thing he is good at: Campaign.
I am not falling in the trap this time and will vote a third party... at least I will have satisfaction that i did not vote a non-performer in.
we didn't even vet the president , why vet these people? our president wouldn't pass a background check to be a state trooper what a joke!
as long as it's not exaggerated which i think it is. Especially when they vetted the Clintons
Sen Hillary! I'm looking for a job and I can start working tomorrow!!
Obama should have been vetted and grilled to the bone. He should have answered a lot more questions than he did. He has lied and it's just OK.
Somehow I don't really think our "foreign counterparts", should become a part of this complaint. It seems to me there would be a very effective "vetting" process for ANY person who may be chosen to work for the State Department. I wonder if she spoke about this so called "problem" with her "Boss"?????
Watch out Hillary. You can't talk bad about your boss or his policies and still keep your job. I bet she wishes she was still a Senator.
Hmm maybe she's getting ready now for the 2012 elections?
The Obama White House in incompetent. We are fortunate the White House does not have to vet the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the military. Gold help us.
Watch for Hillary to leave State in a year and start to prepare for a White House run of her own challenging Obama for the Dem nomination
Join the club. Anyone who has ever had a job requiring a security clearance has had to put up with this, with waits, until recently, of up to a year before hearing anything. This is not new.
I agree with you for once Hillary. You got to run in 2012.
Storm clouds are a brewing. Hill's time in an Obama administration is numbered. 2012 should be most interesting.
Hillary should have been President, absolutely no question about it...
If she runs again in 4 or 8 years she has my vote!
she's been replaced by Biden who was sent to Iraq while Hillary was left to deal with that powerhouse of world politics-the ex President of Honduras......
I suggest Hillary resign from this losing administration that is failing on unemployment, home foreclosures, and the economy in general...
It is alos failing in foreign affairs as Obama has no credibilty with Iraq, N. Korea, China, the Taliban or Al Qaeda....
Hillary.....Obama is ONE and DONE so get ready for 2012....
Hillary in 2012!
She's a has been who won't go away and is trying her best to stay in the spotlight.Nobody is taking her seriously. Another inept choice by obama.
If they don't make vetting tough the repos will find someone to complaine about they have already.
more interested in what Clinton has to say than what she is obviously is not saying. She needs to have more input!
Hillary is running for something again. Unfortunately there are no openings and it seems she is failing at her job, so the only thing to do is whine and blame someone else.
I'm no fan of NObama, but at least he has one thing right – albeit unpopular with the NAACP – it is up to US to get US out of these messes we're in. The time for the blame game is OVER. The American Ship of State is sinking, but the same rats are running the show.
Will we EVER learn?
there is a reason for why this process is designed to be 'frustrating', to insure that those who eventually occupy seats of power and influence are free from influence themselves. or is the secretary of state suggesting that the vetting process be changed or suspended for members of this new administration? if she feels this way she needs to register a complaint with her boss... the president.
then i would have to ask what do we do about it...obama blasters? Because if the process was simple, then who would get the blame for the failures? Now, the it is hard to get a position and it should be. I had to interview for over 2 hours by 4 different people for a senior training position and then later come back and do it again. What a nightmare? What I don't think she should be doing is allowing everyone to know about other than to offer better solutions to help fix the problem instead of broadcasting it. I love Hillary but what do she recommend?
Just another example of what happens when you a babe in the woods in the White House instead of a seasoned strategist like Hillary Clinton.
The other example of the day is that Democrats led by Himself didn't seem to know and now don't seem to care that their health plan will cost two or three times what they claim.
THEY don't pay for health care – so who cares, right?
And this country was so dumb to reject the health care plan Hillary tried to get for us 17 YEARS AGO!
America whined then because it was too "secret."
Do YOU know what's in Mr Obama's so called "plan" today – other than that the cost is outrageous and crippling!?
No doubt he'll just brush this off as he does so many things.
And America will probably sit back for it.
Have they changed the vetting process from what they had?
Surely this same vetting process didn't give them all the tax cheats they had in the beginning.
"Hilary, at her best!"
Vetting is taking so long because Obama's selections are highly suspect. I wish the vetting process went a little deeper on Geitner.
Well maybe instead of sounding bitter she should take some notes. Obama's rules may seem excessive to her, but this tight control won Obama the presidency. Hillary's best judgment landed her...working for Obama.
Thats because most of Obama's pics are eithert tax cheats or racist against whites
yup – hillary is looking at o'bamas falling poll numbers and is making her move to start undercutting him just like everybody knew she would at the first opportunity!! as long as he was indestructible she was his loyal servant, let him begin to slip and get out of her way – the knives are out and will get sharper – just love watching dems eat each other up!
Irony...by the time the accountants and lawyers are paid for they have already used a few years salary....so much for being 'civil servant'.
I understand the necessity of it today ...power corrupts power...and it's best to not have anyone with too much hunger for power at this point (though relaity is...that is what politics has become...)
Yeah, nobody should have to disclose anything. RIght, Hillary? Be as dishonest as you can be without getting caught. It worked for you and Bill for a while.
The amateur community organizer made his bed by not vetting all the tax cheats that he appointed previously. Now he has to sleep in it.
But if the Obama administration hires someone with a blemish, the media will go crazy over the administrations inability to "simply" vet someone.
This is why America is losing its edge on the rest of the world, we concentrate on the mistakes, but brush off the successes. Not being successful is now OK. But being embarassed is unforgiveable.
Nominees for top positions in the Obama administration say they are put on seemingly endless hold for months during the "vetting" process, forced to provide minute details of their financial, personal and professional lives going back years. Many have to hire lawyers and accountants – paid for with their own money – to compile the information. Some nominees have simply given up in frustration.
After all this it still is not enough for the Republicans they have their own process after President Obama vetting. Look what the deal this week to Sonia SotoMayor.
She's mad because it's harder for her to hand out jobs to her crooked friends.
Somehow with all your drama and funny money you got through. However, if it's that frustrating for you then do like Palin – Quit!
Get'm Hillary. Kick their butts.
She would have been a great President. Instead we got the empty suit orator.
The problem is that so many people in government have so much to hide (on all sides!) that Obama HAD to make the process complicated. It is a shame it's taking so long.
Good for her... Hillary in 2012!!!
Bill was right.
Obama Presidency is the media creation. The biggest fairy tale.
I love Hillary. I love the job Hillary is doing as SoS. But this is like the 3rd article I've seen on this subject. Why not just take it up with Obama and move on? There are too many important issues that need to be covered to keep going over and over the same story.
Thank you Hillary for letting us know what is really going on behind the scenes. There is too much "secrecy" going on in this "transparent" administration. I think there are some folks who are finally waking up.....
Right you are Hillary! It needs to end!
Well, let's see – So far about 75% of the dems nominated have failed the "vetting" process. If Barry would select good honest citizens, then this would not be a problem.
One can only imagine what would happen if Obama nominates someone who was living in Afganistan under the Taliban and failed to investigate it. Republicans and all the right wing conservatiists would go ballistic after him claiming that he is associating himself with terrorists. While they are beating that drum, they will also mention that Obama and his administration members are communist leftists, they hate jews and are unamerican. They will throw everything they can find along their path.
I know it is frustrating not to have enough employees to do the jobs that need to be done. However we need to understand that Obama has a much finer line to walk than Hillary. Just be patient.
I guess the alternative is to hire unethical, unqualified people for the positions. At least they'll be filled more quickly, right? Wrong! Remember Katrina? If you want the job bad enough you go through the process; frustration or not. If you don't want to go through the frustrations involved in the process, don't apply for the position. It's really quite simple.
I hear you Hillary. at least you are keeping a sense of humor.