It neither existed nor failed to exist until you looked for it.
But even if you’re a political appointee, isn’t there some kind of vetting process by someone, somewhere along the line?
I mean, in theory?
Ah, Schroedinger’s Degree!
IIRC, and it’s been a while since I learned this, some higher-level appointees require Senate confirmation and the majority of them (the mid-level ones) don’t. The slot is there, the president (or his agent) appoints them, they get the job. It’s part of the way new officials get to bring in their own team without the hassle of going through the federal workforce.
So, to answer your question, no. They have to turn in some paperwork on being appointed but no one has confirmation unless it’s the Senate. And they don’t have it for the non-top posts.
Yeah, and after the appointee resigned, he went home and had a beer from Schroedinger’s Fridge.
And some people would be surprised to learn to what extent, even in academia, for most normal hiring hardly anyone will ever fact-check your degree, unless the resumé says something that hits HR as too glaringly “not right”, or it’s a technical specialized position where it’s imperative that you indeed have done the work – had they hired him to actually do work in physics, rather than write about it, they may have checked his creds out earlier.
They’d most likely have asked questions in the interview with someone that had the background he said he did ought to be able to answer, and he most likely wouldn’t be able to answer those questions. There are some people who really know their technical stuff, but can’t get a degree for whatever reasons- they are vastly outnumbered by those who don’t get a degree because they can’t hack the technical stuff.
Publicly embarrassing the school you claim to have gotten a degree from is probably a good way to get it to come out that you don’t really have a degree. If I were that person at Texas A&M that actually found out that he didn’t really have a degree, I’d still have a huge grin on my face. 
There are a lot of jobs that can be done without the required degree.
By lying about the degree, it might help you get the job, but it also makes it a lot easier to fire the person if they screw up.
I worked at a place where the HR director admitted they liked hiring employees with a good work record but fake academic claims. It gave the company and easy and foolproof method of firing at will.
Jim
I would like to send this guy a card, but Hallmark’s “congratulations on the public humiliation, you jackass” category is woefully lacking.
It is, but this is the kind of message best conveyed by singing telegram anyway.
Dum dum dee dum dum dum
Your job is dead 
What gave him away is when he asked what rockets pushed against.
You made my day, Anne.
This is what you get when you elect a President who’s pretty much opposed to science.
In the absence of that, you could instead use one of their “To The Graduate…”
I guess that the Texas A&M Honor Code concept didn’t exactly sink in. I’m pretty sure that misrepresenting one’s status for gain is in violation of said honor code.
In case you’re wondering what George C. Deustch has to say for himself[free registration required]:
I almost feel sorry for the poor schmuck. He’s only 24, not some shrewd Bush crony.
You can find a radio interview with Deutsch at WTAW, from College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M. To his credit, he fully owns up to the error on his resume, and says he resigned without being asked to.
But turns out he’s being “smeared” because the eeeeevil climate scientists are “out to get Republicans, and out to get Christians, out to get people who are helping Bush.” Man, I really feel for those poor, oppressed Christians!
that he tried to enforce.
because people who knew what they were talking about ignored him.
Wrote the resume in anticipation of graduating.
The check is in the mail.
Two equivalent statements.