Tougher vetting means appointment delays

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- The vetting process to join U.S. President Barack Obama's team has intensified since problems emerged with some choices, nominees and administration aides said.

Tax problems scuttled several of Obama's early picks, notably former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. On Monday, a Senate panel's investigation revealed U.S. trade representative nominee Ron Kirk made several tax errors regarding honoraria, tickets and charitable donations.

Some nominees have been permitted to work in related jobs at the departments while awaiting confirmation, while others have been told to wait until their nominations clear the Senate, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"You begin to feel removed from the action. You begin to feel removed from the government you were expecting to be part of," one nominee told the Post.

The original vetting process included intense scrutiny of personal, financial and professional backgrounds, completion of a 63-item questionnaire, a detailed probe of the person's writings, relationships, finances, tax filings, legal proceedings, domestic help and personal profiles on social networking Web sites.

The process since has been "sharpened a good bit," Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett told the Post. "There were a bunch of questions but we have added a few. There is a certain rigor to it that is appropriate. And you can always dig deeper and deeper."

Obama nominated 71 people to positions requiring Senate confirmation. Of those, 41 have been formally nominated and 28 confirmed. In addition, Obama appointed several hundred people to positions that don't require confirmation.