Congressman not Re-elected

flmom

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The congressman in our district lost his re-election last Tuesday. Found out today that his office will not be conducting interviews or giving out nominations. Can he do this??? I am very disappointed in his ability to shut off his job responsibilies for the next 2 months. Can he get in trouble for this. Will the newly elected congresswoman be able to undertake this quickly? Any advise welcome.

flmom
 
Sounds fishy...most nominations come out in December; they are in office until early January...so he should be able to do them...darn Republicans. :biggrin:
 
The congressman in our district lost his re-election last Tuesday. Found out today that his office will not be conducting interviews or giving out nominations. Can he do this???

Yes. He's doing it.

flmom said:
I am very disappointed in his ability to shut off his job responsibilies for the next 2 months. Can he get in trouble for this.

No, there is no law that says he must nominate, only that he may nominate..

flmom said:
Will the newly elected congresswoman be able to undertake this quickly?

Not likely, as the 111th Congress doesn't take office until Jan 6.
 
I've never heard of this happening but that doesn't mean that it hasn't/can't. If true, it's very unfortunate for the students in the MOC's district. However, MOCs can do whatever they please, provided they comply with the law. Most MOCs who leave office (voluntarily or b/c they were defeated) submit their slates before they leave office.

My guess is that the SAs will encourage this MOC to make noms -- even if his office simply relies on paperwork (they don't have to do interviews). However, the SAs can't force him to do it. If he doesn't nominate any candidates this year, the vacancy(ies) is/are added to whatever he would have had next year, meaning the newly elected MOC would have more open slots to fill. No consolation to this year's candidates, I know.

It is POSSIBLE that the new guy/gal could fill the slots. However, given that the new person doesn't take office until late January and the noms are due by Jan 31, it doesn't seem likely.:frown:
 
Is he still collecting a paycheck?

If the congressman is still collecting a paycheck from our hard earned tax dollars, one would think he has a LEGAL obligation to keep doing what he has been doing all along. If he issued nominations in past years, he would be neglecting his established job responsbilites by suddenly stopping for no good reason.

This issue should be raised as high as posslble. The status quo should not be accepted. I'm sure the media would be interested in this issue.

What a sore loser !!!
 
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I think we should get the facts before judging or making a decision.
The US code states that each us representative or senator is "ENTITLED".
It does not say they are required or even that they must submit 10 names. They can submit one name if they so choose.

The possibility exists that the current member of congress has agreed to turn over the names to the incoming and allow the incoming member to pick.

Weird things happen - lets get the facts. I knew a candidate last year whose Congressman did not have any slots available at all for the Naval Academy. He could not submit a slate of names if he wanted to.

This also underlies the importance of applying for ALL nominations for which one is eligible. The minumum number each candidate is eligible for is four.
 
This also underlies the importance of applying for ALL nominations for which one is eligible. The minumum number each candidate is eligible for is four.

Except for USMMA candidates, who are only eligible for three.
 
Being proactive

True, let's not jump to conclusions, however jumping to conclusions is a variant of being proactive - and we all know being proactive is good.

The heart of the matter is that these questions should be raised before it is too late. The most likely place to get a nom is from the congressman. Where I come from, the two senators get about 600 nom requests each. They interview 25 and choose 10. Even a kid with an LOA stands a good change of not hearing from a senator. On the other hand, a congressman has a constituency which is much smaller than a senator. Every kid gets an interview because there are much less than 600 kids asking for a nom.

The loss of the congressman’s nom opportunity is very bad for the local kids.

Lastly, I don’t understand how an MOC can have no noms available in one year. The academies are legally bound to get them out in 4 years. Based upon this, all MOCs must have one opening every year, two on a 4 year cycle, and more if a kid that is being charged to them drops out.

Of course all 4 nom sources should be applied for, however the reality is that the VP and senators are long shots, the congressman is not a long shot in most cases.
 
Lastly, I don’t understand how an MOC can have no noms available in one year. The academies are legally bound to get them out in 4 years. Based upon this, all MOCs must have one opening every year, two on a 4 year cycle, and more if a kid that is being charged to them drops out.


Your answer: If a student drops out of an academy, that slot will be filled the next year, along with any other slots that become open due to graduations, etc. The slot will be taken for the next four years, so it will be unavailable in the year when the drop out would have graduated. The only rule is that the MOC can have 5 nominees at the academy.
 
Failing to properly manage your noms can lead to having zero slots for one year. The key for the MOC is to ensure that he always have at least one student in the senior class (1/C) so that he is guaranteed to have at least one slot to fill each year (because the MOC can't count on someone quitting).

So how can this get messed up? Well, the MOC could have 3 vacancies in one year (because, for example, one mid graduated and 2 others quit). If this happened, the MOC would be encouraged by USNA not to fill all three vacancies that year. If the MOC did so, there would be at least one year when he/she would have no vacancies. This is because, with a total of only five and three in one class, one class/year must have zero. And when that "zero" year graduates, there is the potential to have zero vacancies to fill (because he can't on someone quitting).

The SAs work with MOCs to try to ensure that there is one spot each year and two slots every few years. However, the SAs can't "make" the MOC do or not do anything, provided it's within the law.
 
FLMOM,

As one poster said, how was it you "found out today?" And, its not so much any of us out here in forum-land need to know that, but unless you received a signed letter from your MOC to your s/d, if it were me, I'd have my son or daughter proceed as if nothing has changed -- because until you get definitive information, nothing has changed, except for what you've heard.

There is a lot of confusion in a time like this, because most MOC's staffs are young and have never experienced the situation. But, usually there is a key staff person who handles the MOC's service academy nominations. It may be the local office is making an assumption, or the staff in Washington has put "everything" on hold, pending what they can do and what they must suspend. Meanwhile, try to get to and talk with that "key" staff person.

This is all doable if they wish to make it happen. Pursue the information, let your admissions counselor(s) and BGO's/ALO's/etc know and seek their input, but don't give up until you get a positive, written confirmation.
 
How I found out

I found out that they will not be conducting interviews/nominations by calling the congressman's office and speaking with the service academy coordinator. She said that maybe the new MOC will do it?? The new MOC website has no phone contact information but I did send her an email yesterday but haven't heard anything yet. I still think the outgoing MOC is wrong in doing this and is just hurting outstanding seniors who are just trying to obtain an education and serve our country. I am not worried about my son obtaining a nomination as he did interview with both of the FL Senator's-teams last week and also has a LOA as a recruited athlete.
 
I will be curious to see how this plays out. I don't know the circumstances but remember - the staff of the MOC manages the nominations. The MOC's generally don't do interviews or even review files. I can see in a situation where an MOC loses an election his staff would start to job hunt. Not saying this is what happened but speculating.

All members of congress have until January 31st to submit the nominations to the academies. Competition varies widely from congressional district to congressional district and this makes it a much bigger job for some than others.

Hopefully, the new Congressman will be handed over the files and can put together the nominations. I think the academies will push for this - they want the nominations as much as everyone else.
 
1) There is no requirement for a MOC to nominate anyone at all.
2) When a MOC is leaving office they may choose to handle things in various ways. I have seen instances where an outgoing MOC has intentionally used all available slots in a manner so that the new MOC will have zero available slots the following year. This is not always possible but I personally know of multiple districts where this has taken place.
3) Similarly, a MOC may choose to transfer the files to the incoming MOC and grant the new MOC the courtesy of selecting the nominees. Since the new MOC does not need to place submit the slate until January 31, there is time for the new MOC to get it done. Incoming MOCs, while not officially in office until January, undergo transition processing in Nov/Dec.

I have some experience in this area and suggest that instead of wondering what will occur that you consider sending a nice letter to your new MOC with a copy of whatever you sent to the old MOC (presumably you kept a copy) and tell them straight up that you had been told the outgoing MOC is not intending to proceed with nominations and as such you are sending the info to the new MOC. I can assure you that the new MOC has staffers in place already. The MOC will delegate this to a trusted staffer. The staffer may pull together a committee and do interviews or not.

While the transfer of MOC may be bitter between the parties, I can assure you that both the outgoing and incoming MOC care about their public image. If the outgoing MOC does not transfer these files, you have protected yourself by sending the new MOC the file. If the outgoing MOC has transferred the files, you have shown your new MOC your interest by sending the letter and file. Either way, you benefit yourself.

I could give other scenarios but suffice it to say that there lots of things that could occur. However, that being said - I think a letter to the new MOC is appropriate. As a courtesy, you may consider sending a copy of the letter to the outgoing MOC. Or, do it the other way around with a copy to the new MOC - and if you do it that way, ask the outgoing MOC to please transfer your file to the new MOC (send the new MOC your copy anyway).

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about this.
 
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