Finally, the Senate's action on the nomination is sent to the president. All results are recorded in the Congressional Record.
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How do I update a page? Executive Director five-year term of office; full-time Governor and Alternate Governor five-year terms of office; part-time. Asian Development Bank U. Executive Director full-time Governor and Alternate Governor part-time. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development U. Executive Director two-year term of office; full-time—The incumbent also serves as U. Alternate Executive Director two-year term of office; full-time—The incumbent also serves as U.
Governor same individual as the International Monetary Fund Governor; five-year term of office; part-time—The incumbent also serves as Governor for the International Finance Corporation and the International Development Association. Alternate Governor five-year term of office; part-time—The incumbent also serves as Alternate Governor for the International Finance Corporation and the International Development Association. Broadcasting Board of Governors political balance required Member—eight of nine total positions three-year terms of office.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission political balance required Commissioner—five positions five-year terms of office General Counsel four-year term of office.
National Labor Relations Board Political balance is not required, but, by tradition, no more than three members are from the same party. Member—five positions five-year terms of office General Counsel four-year term of office. National Mediation Board political balance required Member—three positions three-year terms of office.
National Science Board Member—24 positions six-year terms of office. Railroad Retirement Board Member—three positions five-year terms of office—Chair must be confirmed as both a member and as chair Inspector General Harry S. Department of Commerce Director—Bureau of the Census five-year term of office Federal Labor Relations Authority political balance required Members—three positions five-year terms of office General Counsel five-year term of office.
Merit Systems Protection Board political balance required Member—three positions seven-year terms of office—chair must be confirmed as both a member and as chair. Office of Government Ethics Director five-year term of office. Office of Special Counsel Special Counsel five-year term of office.
Postal Regulatory Commission political balance required Commissioner—five positions six-year terms of office.
United States Postal Service Board of Governors political balance required Governor—nine positions nine-year terms of office. Patent and Trademark Office. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director—U. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Attorney—93 positions four-year terms of office U. Marshal—93 positions four-year terms of office Foreign Claims Settlement Commission Chair— three-year term of office; nominated from among commissioner members—See additional listing under part-time positions below.
United States Circuit Court Judges— positions life tenure. United States Court of International Trade life tenure Judges—nine positions political balance required. United States District Courts Judges— positions most are life tenure—also includes 4 judges in 3 territorial courts, who are appointed to year terms of office. United States Parole Commission Member—five positions six-year term of office.
United States Sentencing Commission Chair— six-year term of office; nominated from among commission members Vice Chair—three positions six-year terms of office; designated from among commission members. United States Sentencing Commission political balance required Commissioner—three positions six-year terms of office Election Assistance Commission political balance required Commissioner—four positions four-year terms of office. Federal Election Commission political balance required Commissioners—six positions six-year terms of office.
Government Publish ing Office Public Printer. Table A Commerce, Science, and Transportation a. Assistant Secretary for Administration, Department of Transportation b. Assistant Secretary for Management, Department of the Treasury d. Health, Education, Labor and Pensions e. Source: Congressional Research Service, based upon the lists provided in the Congressional Record upon introduction of S.
Committee jurisdiction was determined based upon the list provided in the Congressional Record upon the bill's introduction, as well as examination of past referrals of nominations in the Legislative Information System's nominations database. Carey, in which this table first appeared. Notes: In addition to eliminating advice and consent requirements for the positions listed here, P. In the Department of Defense, the authorized number of Assistant Secretaries was reduced from 16 to The two that would be eliminated in accordance with that reduction would be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
Another change made by the passage of P. Additionally, for the positions of Governor and Alternate Governor for the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and African Development Fund, the President can nominate an individual with the advice and consent of the Senate, or he can designate an individual to fill those positions from among individuals serving in positions that are already, independently, subject to advice and consent of the Senate.
These are included in P. The advice and consent requirements for an additional 2, Public Health Services Officer Corps positions were eliminated as well by P. These nominations were typically non-controversial and were considered by the Senate en bloc , with the Senate considering a large number of nominees and casting a single vote for the entire list.
The list may include dozens or even hundreds of nominees. This report was originally authored by Henry B. Hogue, analyst in American National Government, and Maureen Bearden, information research specialist. Positions in the White House Office to which the President makes appointments without the need for Senate confirmation are exceptions. In the final, official appointment stage, a confirmed nominee is given a commission signed by the President, with the seal of the United States affixed thereto, and is sworn into office.
As discussed below under the heading "Standing Order on 'Privileged' Nominations," pursuant to a standing order adopted in the th Congress , certain specific nominations and categories of nominations are not referred to committee when received, but are subject to a potentially more expedited process of Senate consideration. On January 9, , the Senate agreed, by unanimous consent, "that nominations to the Office of Inspector General, except the Office of Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency, be referred in each case to the committee having primary jurisdiction over the department, agency or entity, and if and when reported in each case, then to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for not to exceed 20 calendar days, except that in cases when the day period expires while the Senate is in recess, the committee shall have an additional 5 calendar days after the Senate reconvenes to report the nomination and that if the nomination is not reported after the expiration of that period, the nomination be automatically discharged and placed on the executive calendar.
A subsequent nomination to this position was referred solely to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In the th Congress, the Senate also passed legislation intended to reduce the number of executive branch positions subject to Senate confirmation.
Enactment of S. Remarks of Sen. Charles E. Schumer, Congressional Record , daily edition, vol. Congressional Record , daily edition, vol. This position was created pursuant to P. Pursuant to a UC agreement, most IG nominations are referred sequentially to the committee with predominant jurisdiction over the particular IG's agency and then the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
For more information, see footnote 6. See " Standing Order on "Privileged" Nominations " for further explanation. Pursuant to P. This position was created on October 28, , pursuant to P. The statute indicates that "additional judges" may be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, but does not specify how many appointments may be made.
Two such nominations were made in the th Congress. On March 10, , the Senate agreed, by unanimous consent, that "when the nomination for the Assistant Secretary for Civil Works is received by the Senate, it will be referred to the Committee on Armed Services; provided that when the Committee on Armed Services reports the nomination it be referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works for a period of 20 days of session; provided further that if the Committee on Environment and Public Works does not report the nomination within those 20 days, the committee be discharged from further consideration of the nomination and the nomination be placed on the Calendar.
For other positions within the department, see also Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for inspector general position. Nominations to this position are referred jointly to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources pursuant to a standing order entered into by the Senate by unanimous consent on June 28, Seek the guidance of your congressional Sherpa.
After an election, the president or president-elect begins making decisions on critical Senate-confirmed appointments. Re-elected presidents often have a number of important vacancies to fill early in their second term due to departures. The nomination is then sent to the appropriate committee. Once reported from the committee, your nomination may be called up for consideration and vote by the full Senate.
Generally, nominees can expect serious scrutiny from the Senate, but most nominees are eventually confirmed. In addition to background investigation and financial disclosure forms, nominees for Senate-confirmed appointments must complete Senate committee questionnaires.
Each committee has its own questionnaire, and they differ in their subject matter and length. The questions typically cover biographical and financial information, and some committees also ask nominees to respond to policy questionnaires. Congress should carefully examine these long-term vacancies—especially those that span presidential administrations—and determine whether some of the positions could be converted to another type of appointee or eliminated.
Any effort at converting Senate-confirmed positions should consider the potential implications for Schedule C positions supporting Senate-confirmed roles.
Though their responsibilities vary, these positions form the personal staffs of agency leaders, including chiefs of staff, special assistants, senior advisers and executive assistants. Cabinet appointees frequently recruit select personal and expert Schedule C staff members to support their complex roles and aid the administration of their agencies. However, such staff also support undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and deputy assistant secretaries, and perform roles that could be handled by career civil servants.
Any effort to reduce or convert Senate-confirmed roles could bring with it commensurate decrease in Schedule C staff if the converted or eliminated positions lose their personal staffs. A more aggressive approach might be to limit the number of front office Schedule C staff altogether below the Cabinet level and requiring these roles to be filled by career personnel.
Congress might fulfill this approach by instituting a cap or by legislatively restricting the role assignment of Schedule C personnel. The intention of the Framers in establishing the appointments process was to allow presidents to staff administrations with the very best while limiting the power of the executive branch to install unsuitable candidates or use government positions for personal and political gain.
This objective still has merit and should be preserved. Our government works best when it has a full team of capable, qualified and committed individuals serving in career positions and political appointments. However, the current number of Senate-confirmed positions has created a logjam, hindering the ability of administrations to fill critical roles and undermining the effectiveness of the American government.
It is only through cooperation across the executive and legislative branches that the current appointment process can be reformed from the unsustainable status quo. The approaches described in this report are meant to start a conversation aimed at resetting the appointments process while maintaining its core principles and intent. We believe now is the moment to seriously pursue reform.
Without it, our system will continue to struggle. Researchers at the Partnership follow presidential and congressional actions on approximately top executive branch positions, a portion of the roughly 1, positions that require Senate confirmation. The tracker includes all full-time civilian positions in the executive branch that require Senate confirmation except for judges, marshals and U.
Military appointments and part-time positions requiring Senate confirmation are not included. Congress, Policy and Supporting Positions, various years. In , John F. Kennedy inherited positions; in , Donald Trump inherited 3, Congress, Policy and Supporting Positions, Ogrysko, Nicole. Retrieved from nyti. The role, responsibility and challenge for federal chief information officers in IT investment oversight and information management.
Several issues encourage short service, but two are noteworthy, the lack of express commitment to serving longer and inadequate training for the position.
Unconfirmed Why reducing the number of Senate-confirmed positions can make government more effective August 9, For 19 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to making the federal government more effective. We work across administrations to help transform the way government operates by increasing collaboration, accountability, efficiency and innovation.
Visit ourpublicservice. Executive Summary. The Unchecked Growth of the Confirmation Process. Executive Summary The federal workforce is composed of about 2 million civil servants who provide continuity across presidential administrations and another 4, political appointees who are selected by the president.
Once created, these positions are hard to reform or eliminate. The confirmation process takes longer than ever before. The average Senate confirmation process took about twice as long as it did during the Trump days and the Obama administration days than it did during the Reagan administration 56 days. Vacancies in Senate-confirmed positions have significantly increased.
During each of the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, Senate-confirmed nominees spent about , cumulative days years mired in the confirmation process. The short tenures of political appointees combined with these delays result in frequent and extended vacancies across Senate-confirmed positions. Convert Senate-confirmed positions to nonconfirmed presidential appointments. Criteria for conversion may include role emphasis, influence, budget, personnel authority or oversight responsibility.
Assign more Senate-confirmed positions to fixed-length terms. Today, roughly a third of Senate-confirmed positions have a specific term length. Expand the holdover norm. Alternatively, to prevent gaps in priority positions, administrations could expand the norm of holding over critical officials until successors are confirmed in the short term, as is often done for U.
Convert political appointments to nonpolitical career roles. Senate-confirmed positions at appropriate levels, demanding federal career expertise or benefitting from long-term continuity, could be converted to nonpolitical career roles. Convert select Senate-confirmed political appointments on commissions and boards to nonconfirmed roles or to agency-controlled appointments.
Enabling largely part-time positions within ceremonial and advisory commissions to be appointed by Senate-confirmed agency leaders could reduce burden on the confirmation process. Eliminate redundant and consistently vacant appointments. Reduce the number of positions across the federal government. Positions with duplicate functions or chronic vacancies could be eliminated.
In , the Senate adopted a new procedure that allows a subset of nominations—so-called privileged nominations—to bypass committee procedures.
These nominations, including many part-time positions for boards and commissions, still get caught up in lengthy floor procedures. The Senate should look for ways to improve the privileged process. Introduction While most of the federal government is composed of career civil servants, there are roughly 4, positions filled by political appointees selected by the president.
Convert Senate-confirmed positions to nonconfirmed political appointments or non-career Senior Executive Service. One approach would be to reduce the total number of Senate-confirmed positions and convert them to political appointments not requiring Senate approval.
The Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of did just that, converting positions 38 from Senate-confirmed status. These jobs included the assistant secretary for management at the Department of Education and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Such positions report to a more senior official who is Senate confirmed.