Q: Why does the nation’s chief executive have a team of advisors known as the President’s Cabinet?
A: During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates hashed out how to organize the executive branch and whether the president would act independently or collaborate with a council of ministers. One proposal suggested a council comprised of the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the delegates vested the executive power in a single person: the President of the United States. However, they also included constitutional guardrails unique to our system of checks and balances, granting the power of “advise and consent” to the Senate on appointments and treaties. So, while the president’s “Cabinet” is not spelled out in the Constitution,Article II, Section 2, clause 1 authorizes the president “may require the Opinion … of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Officers.”
In other words, the president has the power to surround himself with a team of people to carry out the laws of the land.
President George Washington created the first Cabinet and nominated four individuals for Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of War and Attorney General. Washington met regularly with his Cabinet to discuss core functions of the new federal government: money supply, diplomacy, defense, enforcement of laws and administration of justice.
His successors followed this precedent to surround themselves with trusted advisors to“take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The Cabinet has expanded over the years, most recently with creation of the Department of Homeland Security post-9/11. Today, the Cabinet includes the Vice President and heads of 15 executive departments,
including the U.S. Attorney General; Secretaries of Agriculture;Commerce; Defense; Education; Energy; Health
and Human Services; Homeland Security; Housing and Urban Development; Interior; Labor; State; Treasury; Transportation;
and, Veterans Affairs. Also serving in Cabinet-level positions are the
Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and Small
Business Administration; Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency; National Intelligence; and, Office of Management and Budget; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and the U.S. Trade Representative.
Since the 113th Congress, Cabinet nominees are confirmed by a simple majority in the U.S. Senate. If approved, nominees are sworn in before beginning their duties.
Q: What is the Senate’s role in
the confirmation process?
A: The Constitution gives the president and the Senate shared
authority to make appointments to high-level positions in the federal government, including the federal judiciary and the president’s Cabinet. History shows the Senate extends deference to presidents selecting advisors to help them carry out the operations of the executive branch of government. In the 19th century, the Senate revised its rules to require the referral of nominations to the appropriate committees. A century later, Senate committees held public hearings and questioned nominees in person.
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 119th Congress, I’ve led confirmation hearings for President Trump’s nominees to serve as the Attorney General and theDirector of the FBI. From my assignments on the Senate Agriculture, Finance and Budget Committees, I’ve participated in confirmation hearings for the Secretaries of Agriculture, Treasury, Health and Human Services and Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It’s my policy to wait until after these hearings conclude to make my final decision on
the nomination.
The Senate’s “advise and consent” authority is one tool to keep check on the executive branch and has factored into the rejection or withdrawal of Cabinet nominees for centuries. At the same time, the Senate has a compelling interest not to impede the continuity of government from one administration to the next.
It’s critical to the functioning of government to have these high-level officials in place. For Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, 84 percent
of Cabinet secretaries nominated before Inauguration Day received quick Senate approval, an average of 2.4 days. After passing background checks, answering questions in writing, in private meetings and under the Senate microscope in public confirmation hearings and being referred favorably by the committees of jurisdiction, the president’s nominees deserve a timely vote in the U.S. Senate.
The devastating collision on Jan. 29 over the Potomac River – the worst aviation crash in America in a quarter century – underscores the urgency to get the president’s team in place.