The Executive Secretariat

Key Personnel

The Executive Secretary is a principal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Chief of Staff and head of the Executive Secretariat (ES). The Executive Secretary provides direct counsel to the Secretary on the programs administered by HHS; participates in the formulation, development, and implementation of departmental policy; and represents the Secretary’s interests with White House staff, other Departments and agencies, as well as external groups.

ES manages the Department’s policy review (through the SWIFT system) and decision-making processes (including, especially, meetings), coordinating the development, clearance, and submission of all policy documents for the Secretary’s review and approval. ES is headed by a political appointee and includes a mix of career and political staff. The staff has two components: policy coordination and documents and regulations management.

Policy Coordination

Policy coordinators are experts on the programs administered by HHS. They identify, manage, resolve, prioritize, and plainly describe the many complex, technical issues the Secretary must consider. The ES policy coordinators are a policy neutral and confidential staff who manage the Department’s review of regulations and facilitate discussions to reconcile genuine differences of opinion. They assure that the Secretary is presented with thoroughly developed options and supporting materials covering the entire range of fact and opinion on an issue.

Policy coordinators—

• Facilitate the review and clearance of policy documents.
• Manage and resolve policy disagreements.
• Synthesize complex proposals.
• Manage the regulatory review process.
• Provide briefing materials for the Secretary’s meetings.
• Keep policy officials informed of emerging issues.
• Assure that all offices and clearance points follow established protocols.

Documents and Regulations Management

All incoming correspondence and memoranda are analyzed by staff who are knowledgeable about the Department’s programs and about the preferences of the Secretary. ODRM staff analyze every document and assign a priority and a lead HHS component to draft a response. Letters requiring special handling are flagged for policy officials. ODRM also provides guidance on the style and format governing response to correspondence.

Documents and regulations management staff—

• Assign incoming mail and establish handling requirements.
• Manage the technical requirements for publication of regulations.
• Track and maintain secretarial documents and official files.