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The Appointment Process

Military Appointments - White House Appointments -  Recess Appointments - Ceremonial Appointments - Citizen Advisory Committees

 Now is the time for you to start putting together a Presidential Appointment if you have that in your mind!   There are a number of suggestions in this site about specific steps you should be taking at this time - including preparation of resumes and running political lines with Senators and Representatives who will be important to any Presidential appointment.

APPOINTMENTS DIRECTLY BY THE PRESIDENT WHICH DO NOT REQUIRE SENATE CONFIRMATION

    The President appoints several levels of Cabinet and agency officers.  Usually the appointments are controlled directly through the White House and close to the President.  For example, the President appoints the head of each Cabinet level department, such the Secretary of State.  But power and politics kick in immediately after the election of the President when his staff searches for all of the Under Secretaries of State, the Assistant Under Secretaries of State, the Assistant Secretaries of State, and all of the Ambassadors to foreign nations and to international organizations such as the United Nations and the Pan American Union.

   This level of control may extend down to legal counsel in the departments, and division heads and other special appointments within each department.   Ultimately, every appointment allowed by law which can be controlled by an elected President is made by the President, and not in succession by his highest appointees in the department.  The Secretary of State, for example, does not appoint his own staff - the President appoints the staff.  (A cabinet level officer usually has control over his personal administrative secretary or others who are personal to the officer.)  This occurs in all of the Cabinet level divisions of he government.

     Similarly, the President appoints several levels of each agency.  There are many entities in government which report directly to the President.  The appointive process works exactly the same in those agencies.  An example is the Small Business Administration where the President appoints the Director, but also appoints assistant Directors and Regional Administrators around the United States.

     There is no clearer example of the control over patronage which is held close to the head of government than this.  The President, so that power can be used as a weapon, or device, to maintain control and power over the political and policy process controls appointments through his own hand.  While senior appointees may have consultation on the selection of their junior officers, they clearly do not have political control over the appointments beneath their own.  Loyalty is to the appointing officer.  The White House, regardless of political party, never allows that loyalty and the power that comes with it to stray far from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and from the Oval Office of the President of the United States.

INTERIM PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS

    Presidential appointees who require Senate confirmation do not usually take office until after the confirmation process is complete.   The Senate has always felt free to block or slow appointments it doesn't like by simply delaying the confirmation process.  However, as a counter balance to this routine, nominations made by the President when the Congress is not in Session are called "Interim Appointments" and the nominees take office immediately, without confirmation, which is delayed until the Senate reconvenes.  

   The practical impact of this procedure is that the nominee then remains on interim status, doing the work of the office and being fully paid, until either confirmed by the Senate when he is then fully sworn in as a regular appointment,  or rejected, at which time that nominee must leave office immediately.  The logical significance of this process is to fill offices when the Senate is away, thereby not leaving important positions open.

     The political significance is that the President is in a position to make the interim  appointment regardless of what the Senate thinks, and often place a person which the Senate either doesn't like, or where the Senate is using this procedure to embarrass and keep someone out of office without refusing confirmation as leverage against the President or that nominee.  Among the games politicians play with Presidential appointments, this is one of the more interesting and clever.  Needless to say the process does not necessarily build long standing friendships.

MILITARY APPOINTMENTS

RECESS APPOINTMENTS

WHITE HOUSE STAFF APPOINTMENTS

CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEES

   COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, and BOARDS

    A large and significant number of committees, commissions and boards are appointed by the President.  Some are created by Congress, some by Executive Order, and some sort of happen within various departments and agencies.  These are usually designed for celebrations, to support public events, or to deal with very specific subjects which occur from time to time.  Often they have high political significance or high levels of public awareness but have little power or authority, but generous glitz.  None of these require Senate confirmation.

     Very often these appointments have huge impact on policy with almost no notice.  The government of the United States is so large that these relatively short lived groups with special purposes go largely unnoticed.  These are positions which often include people of special experience and background included to do a special job on a special subject.  Certainly these are among the most interesting of Executive appointments.  They may include per diem and expense payments, and often do.  Many only cover expenses.  A few have some sort of pay attached, but few are full time for long, if at all.  Staff and administrative support comes from the department or agency where the group is created and attached.  These appointments are often long on attention and prestige and short on money and longevity.

HOLDOVER APPOINTMENTS

      When the transition from one President to the next occurs in the White House, many positions remain filled by members of the last regime.  This occurs because it takes time for the new crowd to screen candidates and make the new appointment nominations and selections. Usually, it does not make sense to leave positions entirely unattended, so many times significant jobs remain in the hands of prior appointees.

      Many times it is actually to the benefit of a new President to leave former people in offices.  These are positions where unusual expertise is required, and the impact of the job is not filled with negative political implications.

     This is one of the situations where jobs, while patronage in style, are for one reason or another are better filed by experts in place than by being vacant, or filled with a Presidential selection which may be very difficult to find, and even harder to persuade to take a specialized job for a relatively short period of years.  Those who are genuine experts can negotiate to stay very easily unless that person has somehow become a political liability to the new President.   

Contact: Director@Presidential-Appointments.org Thank you.  John Isaacson   617 504 3699

Copyright 2001-2011 John Isaacson --Contact Information: John Isaacson, Director@Presidential-Appointments.org - Call: 617 504 3699