Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of The U.S. Constitution (sometimes referred to as the Appointments Clause), the president has the power to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, consuls and judges of the Supreme Court, who must be confirmed by the Senate. Other officers of the United States and Congress may be appointed by the president alone.
For members of the cabinet, Supreme Court justices, and other presidential appointments that require Senate confirmation, the process involves several steps:
- Selection and Background Check. Once the President-elect has made his selection, each cabinet secretary and judicial nomination goes through security checks by the FBI and Office of Government Ethics for potential conflicts of interest.
- Committee Assignment. Formal papers are then submitted to the Senate for each nominee, and each nomination is then assigned to the committee with oversight of that department of the government. The Senate Judiciary Committee is assigned all nominations for Supreme Court justices.
- Meeting with Committee Members & Staff. The nominees then will meet the chairs, ranking members and the key committee staffs that will process and review the credentials of the nominee. Staff will look to make sure that the nominee has provided all of the required and requested information, that he or she has complied with a wide range of requirements, that conflicts of interest have been addressed and a host of other issues. All of this occurs before the nominee is formally introduced to the committee and testifies. This is the stage in which a senator can raise issues or concerns regarding the nominee.
- Committee Hearing. The cabinet nominee is typically introduced by his or her home state senators, while other senators may testify in support of the nominee. Once the introduction is made and members have had a chance to testify in support of the nominee, the nominee will be asked questions from committee members. The committee then considers the nomination as part of an executive session and is votes upon it.
- Floor Debate and Vote. If the nominee gets a majority of the votes from the committee, the nominee is placed on the executive calendar for the senate. The Senate majority leader will call up that nomination. The full Senate will then hold a debate until a senator asks for unanimous consent to end debate and move to a vote on the nominee. If unanimous consent is granted, the Senate votes on the nominee, with a majority vote required for confirmation. Any senator can refuse to grant unanimous consent. This situation is known as a “hold.” If any senator objects to unanimous consent, then a cloture motion must be filed in order to end the debate and move to a vote. Cloture motions for most judicial and executive nominations require 51 votes to pass. If 51 senators support cloture, the full senate will vote on the nomination. Only a majority of 51 votes is required to confirm judicial and administrative nominees, other than to the Supreme Court. If fewer than 51 senators support cloture, debate continues and a confirmation vote cannot occur, which is known as a filibuster. Cloture motions for nominees to the Supreme Court require 60 votes. Once the senate holds a confirmation vote, with a majority voting to confirm, the nominee is confirmed.
- Elizabeth Patterson
