Senate Procedures to Confirm Nominees (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
July 30, 2024 |
| Report Number |
TE10105 |
| Report Type |
Testimony |
| Authors |
Sean M. Stiff |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
My name is Sean Stiff, and I am a legislative attorney in the American Law Division of the
Congressional Research Service. I am honored to testify at today’s hearing to discuss Congress’s
authority to change the appointment method for federal offices currently appointed through
Senate confirmation and possible implications for a decrease in such positions.
Writing in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton argued that “the true test of a good government is
its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.” Producing “good administration,” he
argued, required an appointment method that would “promote a judicious choice” in federal office
holders.2 To Hamilton, the framework then proposed in the Constitution—the Appointments Clause of
Article II, § —struck the proper balance for selecting “Officers of the United States.” Lodging in the
President the authority to nominate certain officers would fix in one person the “sole and undivided
responsibility” of the choice of nominee. Lodging in the Senate the power to then confirm the President’s
nominee would “be an excellent check” on evils that might arise from an appointment power vested only
in the President.
Having to “submit the propriety” of the President’s choice “to the discussion and
determination of a different and independent body” would (for example) ensure that the President took
care when nominating those subject to Senate advice and consent.
Hamilton was not just a leading proponent of the Appointments Clause. He was the first to receive the
Senate’s advice and consent to head an executive department.
In the years since 1789, the number of
positions subject to the Senate’s advice and consent has increased substantially. In 2020, based on data
supplied by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform counted more than 1,100 positions in agencies and departments that were subject to
the Senate’s advice and consent. Congress continues to establish new requirements for Senate
confirmation.
