Some presidential appointments require the approval of the Senate but many do not. Aside from Cabinet secretaries and Supreme Court justices, whose nominations require the approval of the Senate, the President of the United States has the authority to appoint people to high-level positions within the federal government unilaterally.
Explanation:
What a compliment! The President of the United States has named you to fill a top-level government position, maybe even a Cabinet-level job. Well, enjoy a glass of bubbly and take some slaps on the back, but don't sell the house and call the movers just yet. The president may want you, but unless you also win the approval of the U.S. Senate, it's back to the shoe store on Monday for you.
Across the federal government, nearly 1,200 executive-level jobs may be filled only by individuals appointed by the president and approved by a simple majority vote of the Senate.
For new incoming presidents, filling many, if not most, of these vacated positions as quickly as possible represents a major part of their presidential transition process, as well as taking a significant portion of time throughout the remainder of their terms.
What Kind of Jobs are These?
According to a Congressional Research Service report, these presidentially-appointed positions requiring Senate approval can be categorized as follows:
Secretaries of the 15 Cabinet agencies, deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, and assistant secretaries, and general counsels of those agencies: Over 350 positions
Justices of the Supreme Court: 9 positions (Supreme Court justices serve for life subject to death, retirement, resignation or impeachment.)
Certain jobs in the independent, non-regulatory executive branch agencies, like NASA and the National Science Foundation: Over 120 positions
Director positions in the regulatory agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration: Over 130 positions
U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals: About 200 positions
Ambassadors to foreign nations: Over 150 positions
Presidential appointments to part-time positions, like the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Over 160 positions
Politics Can Be a Problem
Certainly, the fact that these positions require the approval of the Senate poses the possibility that partisan politics may play a critical role in the presidential appointment process.
Especially during times when one political party controls the White House and another party holds a majority in the Senate, as was the case during the second term of President Barak Obama, Senators of the opposition party are more likely to try to delay or reject the president’s nominees.
But There are ‘Privileged’ Nominations
Hoping to avoid those political pitfalls and delays in the presidential nominee approval process, the Senate, on June 29, 2011, adopted Senate Resolution 116, which established a special expedited procedure governing Senate consideration of certain lower-level presidential nominations. Under the resolution, over 40 specific presidential nominations—mostly assistant department secretaries and members of various boards and commissions—bypass the Senate subcommittee approval process. Instead, the nominations are sent to the chairpersons of the appropriate Senate committees under the heading, “Privileged Nominations – Information Requested.” Once the committees’ staffs have verified that the “appropriate biographical and financial questionnaires have been received” from the nominee, the nominations are considered by the full Senate.
In sponsoring Senate Resolution 116, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) stated his view that because the nominations were for “noncontroversial positions,” they should be confirmed on the floor of the Senate by “unanimous consent”—meaning they are all approved at the same time by a single voice vote. However, under the rules governing unanimous consent items, any Senator, for himself or herself or on the behalf of another Senator, can direct that any particular “privileged” nominee be referred to Senate committee and considered in the usual fashion.
