Vacancy Act Reminder Letter-Department of Agriculture, December 20, 2006

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 replaces the prior Vacancies Act and provides new rules for the temporary filling of vacant executive agency positions that require Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation. The Act requires executive departments and agencies to report to the Congress and to the Comptroller General certain items of information about a vacancy immediately upon the occurrence of events specified in the act. The purpose of this letter is to inform the Department of Agriculture of the requirements of the Act. In view of the small number of reports received, and the fact that GAO must rely on agencies to provide the information needed to meet its statutory reporting responsibilities, this letter describes the requirements that apply to executive departments and agencies and provides additional guidance on the reporting of information to GAO.