Whatever You Do, Don't Make News: How to Survive Your Senate Confirmation Hearing (Simulation)

Before a nominee ever sits at the witness table, a quiet machinery has already been at work: identification, interviews, vetting, the choreography of a public announcement, and the behind-the-scenes effort to tee up a hearing on favorable terms. This session walks through that full confirmation process, from the moment a name is announced to the vote that seals it.

The centerpiece is a live confirmation hearing for a top national security post, with student participants playing senators pressing the nominee on local issues, state priorities, and whatever else they can use to extract a commitment or create a moment. You'll see the art of the nonanswer in action, learn the unwritten rules that separate nominees who survive from those who don't, and walk away with an understanding of what it actually takes to get confirmed in today's polarized Senate.

Facilitated by:

• The Honorable Alex Wagner
  Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army
  Former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force

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About Alex Wagner

The Honorable Alex Wagner served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower & Reserve Affairs from 2022 to 2025. Nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was responsible for the entire human capital enterprise of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, including recruiting and retention, talent management, education, health care, discipline, and reserve component affairs impacting nearly 700,000 Airmen, Guardians, and civilians across the Department of the Air Force.

As Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army during the Obama administration, Alex helped manage a $140 billion enterprise, oversaw the creation of the Army Rapid Capabilities Office and launched initiatives such as “Hack the Army” to strengthen cyber security. He also held roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense shaping U.S. landmine and cluster munition policy, leading arms control negotiations at the UN, and developing the Defense Department's first policy on autonomy in weapon systems.

Beyond government, Alex devised outreach and workforce strategies for America’s top aerospace and defense companies, taught civil rights at Georgetown Law, and recently was a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. He is currently a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's GeoStrategy Initiative, serves on the National Advisory Board of Blue Star Families, and teaches national security policy at Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Alex has testified multiple times before Congress on military recruiting, personnel policy, and building effective organizations. He brings perspective from both executive leadership and frontline policy experience to his writing—published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Hill, and Slate, among others—and appears regularly in national media commenting on defense and security issues. He earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law and an A.B. from Brown University.