Donna Shalala, the secretary of United States Department of Health and Human Services, is a self-professed follower of Josiah Bartlet and his hyper-competent White House staff.

CNN: A presidential sheen

U.S. citizens adopted 17, 416 children from foreign countries in 2008, accounting for 13 percent of adoptions that year compared to approximately 136, 000 children in the United States, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau.

CNN: Families 'in limbo' after Russian adoption ban

They arrived at the Department of Health and Human Services, a giant cinder-block building that stands close to the United States Capitol, and found the mood on the sixth floor rather festive.

NEWYORKER: Romney��s Dilemma