Thomas Jipping, Senior Legal Fellow · Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law
Data as of June 17 of each president’s second year.
Background: Article II of the Constitution gives the President authority to nominate and, with Senate consent, to appoint “Officers of the United States.” The Plum Book, published shortly after each presidential election, lists the positions requiring presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. The number of executive branch positions requiring presidential nomination and Senate consent has varied little over the period covered by the graph below.
Confirmation Norms: The Senate traditionally confirmed the vast majority of executive branch nominees without either a cloture vote or a time-consuming recorded vote. Democrats began rejecting those norms during President Donald Trump’s first term, Republicans made it a trend under President Joe Biden, and Democrats have taken it even further in Trump’s second term.
The full memo, including the executive-branch appointments chart, is available in the PDF below.