Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments During the 110th Congress, 2007-2008

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Presidential Appointments to Full-Time

Positions in Executive Departments During

the 110th Congress, 2007-2008

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Analyst in American National Government

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Analyst in Government Organization and Management

Maureen Bearden

Information Research Specialist

November 19, 2010

Congressional Research Service

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R41497

CRS Report for Congress

Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

Summary

The appointment process for advice and consent positions consists of three main stages. The first

stage is selection, clearance, and nomination by the President. This step includes preliminary

vetting, background checks, and ethics checks of potential nominees. At this stage, the president

may also consult with Senators who are from the same party if the position is located in a state.

The second stage of the process is consideration of the nomination in the Senate, most of which

takes place in committee. Finally, if a nomination is approved by the full Senate, the nominee is

given a commission signed by the President, which makes the nomination official.

During the 110th Congress, the President submitted to the Senate 172 nominations to executive

department full-time positions. Of these 172 nominations, 125 were confirmed; 13 were

withdrawn; and 34 were returned to him in accordance with Senate rules. For those nominations

that were confirmed, an average of 104 days elapsed between nomination and confirmation. The

median number of days elapsed was 92.

The methodology used in this report to count the length of time between nomination and

confirmation differs from that which was used in previous similar CRS reports. The statistics

presented here include the days during which the Senate was adjourned for its summer recesses

and between sessions of Congress. The methodological change, which may reduce the

comparability of statistics in this report with those of the earlier research, is discussed in the text

of this report as well as in an appendix. Reasons for the change include the conversion of long

recesses into a series of short recesses punctuated by pro forma sessions during the 110th

Congress; the fact that although committees may not be taking direct action on nominations in the

form of hearings or votes, they are likely still considering and processing nominations during

recesses; and a desire to be consistent with the methodology used by many political scientists as

well as CRS research on judicial nominations. In addition, an argument could be made that the

decision to extend Senate consideration of nominees over the course of a recess is intentional, and

the choice to extend this length of time is better represented by including all days, including long

recesses.

President George W. Bush did not make any recess appointments to executive department fulltime positions during the 110th Congress.

Information for this report was compiled from data from the Senate nominations database of the

Legislative Information System http://www.congress.gov/nomis/, the Congressional Record

(daily edition), the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, telephone discussions with

agency officials, agency websites, the United States Code, and the 2008 “Plum Book” (United

States Government Policy and Supporting Positions).

This report will not be updated.

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Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

Contents

The Appointment Process for Advice and Consent Positions........................................................1

Selection, Clearance, and Nomination ...................................................................................1

Senate Consideration.............................................................................................................3

Appointment .........................................................................................................................4

Recess Appointments ..................................................................................................................4

Temporary Appointments ............................................................................................................6

Appointments During the 110th Congress ....................................................................................6

Length of Time to Confirm a Nomination....................................................................................7

Organization of This Report ........................................................................................................8

Executive Department Profiles ..............................................................................................8

Additional Appointment Information.....................................................................................9

Department of Agriculture (USDA)........................................................................................... 11

Department of Commerce (DOC).............................................................................................. 12

Department of Defense (DOD).................................................................................................. 14

Department of Education (ED) .................................................................................................. 18

Department of Energy (DOE).................................................................................................... 20

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) .................................................................... 22

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ................................................................................. 24

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)........................................................... 27

Department of the Interior (DOI)............................................................................................... 29

Department of Justice (DOJ) ..................................................................................................... 31

Department of Labor (DOL)...................................................................................................... 34

Department of State (DOS) ....................................................................................................... 36

Department of Transportation (DOT) ........................................................................................ 40

Department of the Treasury (TREAS) ....................................................................................... 42

Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) ...................................................................................... 44

Tables

Table 1. Nomination Action for 15 Departments During the 110th Congress .................................7

Appendixes

Appendix A. Presidential Nominations, 110th Congress ............................................................. 46

Appendix B. Nomination Action, 110th Congress....................................................................... 54

Appendix C. Senate Intersession Recesses and Intrasession Recesses of Four or More

Days, 110th Congress.............................................................................................................. 55

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Appendix D. Abbreviations of Departments .............................................................................. 56

Appendix E. Change in Methodology from Previous Tracking Reports...................................... 57

Contacts

Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 58

Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 59

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his report explains the process for filling positions to which the President makes

appointments with the advice and consent of the Senate (PAS positions). It also identifies,

for the 110th Congress, all nominations to executive-level full-time positions1 in the 15

departments. Profiles of the departments provide information regarding their full-time PAS

positions and related appointment activity during the 110th Congress.

The Appointment Process for Advice and Consent

Positions

The President and the Senate share the power to appoint the principal officers of the United

States.2 The Constitution (Article II, Section 2, clause 2) empowers the President to nominate

and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the principal officers of the

United States.3 Three distinct stages mark the appointment process: selection, clearance, and

nomination by the President; consideration by the Senate; and appointment by the President.

Selection, Clearance, and Nomination

In the first stage, the White House selects and clears a prospective appointee before sending a

formal nomination to the Senate. There are a number of steps in this stage of the process for most

Senate-confirmed positions. First, with the assistance of, and preliminary vetting by, the White

House Office of Presidential Personnel, the President selects a candidate for the position.

Members of Congress and interest groups sometimes recommend candidates for specific PAS

positions. They may offer their suggestions by letter, for example, or by contact with a White

House liaison.4 In general, the White House is under no obligation to follow such

recommendations. In the case of the Senate, however, it has been argued that Senators are

constitutionally entitled, by virtue of the advice and consent clause noted above, to provide advice

to the President regarding his selection; the extent of this entitlement is a matter of some debate.5

As a practical matter, in instances where Senators perceive insufficient pre-nomination

Full-time departmental PAS positions that are not covered in this report include U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal

positions in the Department of Justice; most Foreign Service and diplomatic positions in the Department of State;

officer corps positions in the civilian uniformed services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in

the Department of Commerce, and of the Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services; and

the officer corps in the military services.

A succinct historical and contemporary overview of the appointment power is found in (name redacted), “Appointment

Powers,” in his Constitutional Conflicts between Congress and the President, 5th ed., rev. (Lawrence, KS: University

Press of Kansas, 2007), pp. 21-47.

Art. II, Sec. 2, cl. 2 provides that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the

Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other

Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be

established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper,

in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.”

The Council for Excellence in Government’s Presidential Appointee Initiative, A Survivor’s Guide for Presidential

Nominees, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., November 2000, pp. 31-32.

See, for example, Michael J. Gerhardt, The Federal Appointments Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis

(Durham: Duke University Press, 2003), pp. 29-34.

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consultation has occurred, they have sometimes exercised their procedural prerogatives to delay

or even effectively block consideration of a nomination.6

During the clearance process, the candidate prepares and submits several forms, including the

“Public Financial Disclosure Report” (Standard Form (SF) 278), the “Questionnaire for National

Security Positions” (SF 86), and the White House “Personal Data Statement Questionnaire.” The

Office of the Counsel to the President oversees the clearance process, which often includes the

collection and review of background information by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Office of Government Ethics (OGE), and an ethics official for

the agency to which the candidate is to be appointed. If conflicts of interest are found during the

background check, OGE and the agency ethics officer may work with the candidate to mitigate

the conflicts. Once the Office of the Counsel to the President has cleared the candidate, the

nomination is ready to be submitted to the Senate.

The selection and clearance stage has often been the longest part of the appointment process.

There have been, at times, lengthy delays, particularly when many candidates have been

processed simultaneously, such as at the beginning of an Administration, or where conflicts

needed to be resolved. Candidates for higher-level positions have often been accorded priority in

this process. At the end of 2004, in an effort to reduce the elapsed time between a new President’s

inauguration and the appointment of his or her national security team, Congress enacted

amendments to the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.7 These amendments encourage a

President-elect to submit, for security clearance, potential nominees to high-level national

security positions as soon as possible after the election. 8 A separate provision of law, enacted as

part of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, lengthens, during presidential transitions, the

potential duration of a temporary appointment by 90 days.9 Although this provision might give

some additional flexibility to an incoming President, it might also lengthen the appointment

process for some positions by, in effect, extending the deadline by which a permanent

appointment must be completed.

For a position located within a state (e.g., U.S. attorney, U.S. marshal, and U.S. district judge), the

President, by custom, normally has nominated an individual recommended by one or both

Senators (if they are from the same party as the President) from that state. In instances where

neither Senator is from the President’s party, he usually has deferred to the recommendations of

party leaders from the state. Occasionally, the President has solicited recommendations from

Senators of the opposition party because of their positions in the Senate.

If circumstances permit and conditions are met, the President could give the nominee a recess

appointment to the position (see section entitled “Recess Appointments” below). Recess

appointments have sometimes had political consequences, however, particularly where Senators

perceived that such an appointment was an effort to circumvent their constitutional role. Some

Senate-confirmed positions, such as many of those in the executive departments, may also be

temporarily filled under the Vacancies Act.10

See, for example, ibid., pp. 152-153.

3 U.S.C. § 102 note.

P.L. 108-458, § 7601; 118 Stat. 3856.

5 U.S.C. § 3349a.

P.L. 105-277, Div. C, Title I, § 151; 5 U.S.C. §§ 3345-3349d. For more on the Vacancies Act, see CRS Report 98892, The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to Protect the Senate’s Confirmation Prerogative, by (name redacted).

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A nominee has no legal authority to assume the duties and responsibilities of the position; a

nominee who is hired by the agency as a consultant while awaiting confirmation may serve only

in an advisory capacity. Authority to act comes once there is Senate confirmation and presidential

appointment, or if another method of appointment, such as a recess appointment or a temporary

appointment, is utilized. (For further information on these methods, see sections entitled “Recess

Appointments” and “Temporary Appointments” below.)

Senate Consideration

In the second stage, the Senate alone determines whether or not to confirm a nomination.11 The

way the Senate has acted on a nomination has depended largely on the importance of the position

involved, existing political circumstances, and policy implications. Generally, the Senate has

shown particular interest in the nominee’s views and how they are likely to affect public policy.12

Two other factors have sometimes affected the examination of a nominee’s personal and

professional qualities: whether the President’s party controlled the Senate, and the degree to

which the President became involved in supporting the nomination.

Much of the Senate confirmation process occurs at the committee level. Administratively,

nominations are received by the Senate executive clerk, who arranges for the referral of the

nominations to committee, according to the Senate rules and precedents.13 Committee nomination

activity has generally included investigation, hearing, and reporting stages. As part of

investigatory work, committees have drawn on information provided by the White House, as well

as information they themselves have collected. Some committees have held hearings on nearly all

nominations; others have held hearings for only some. Hearings provide a public forum to discuss

a nomination and any issues related to the program or agency for which the nominee would be

responsible. Even where confirmation has been thought to be a virtual certainty, hearings have

provided Senators and the nominee with opportunities to go on the record with particular views or

commitments. Senators have used hearings to explore nominees’ qualifications, articulate policy

perspectives, or raise related oversight issues.

A committee may decline to act on a nomination at any point—upon referral, after investigation,

or after a hearing. If the committee votes to report a nomination to the full Senate, it has three

options: it may report the nomination favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. A

failure to obtain a majority on the motion to report means the nomination will not be reported to

the Senate.14 If the committee declines to report a nomination, the Senate may, under certain

For further information on this stage of the appointment process, see CRS Report RL31980, Senate Consideration of

Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure, by (name redacted); and CRS Report RL31948,

Evolution of the Senate’s Role in the Nomination and Confirmation Process: A Brief History, by (name redacted).

G. Calvin Mackenzie, The Politics of Presidential Appointments (New York: The Free Press, 1981), pp. 97-189.

Formally, the presiding officer of the Senate makes the referrals. For more information, see Floyd M. Riddick and

Alan S. Frumin, Riddick’s Senate Procedure: Precedents and Practices, 101st Cong., 2nd sess., S.Doc. 101-28

(Washington: GPO, 1992), pp. 1154-8; and CRS Report RL31980, Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations:

Committee and Floor Procedure, by (name redacted), pp. 2-3.

One example of such an occurrence was the Senate Judiciary Committee’s rejection of William Lucas, whom

President George H. W. Bush had nominated for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Reportedly, the

committee first rejected reporting the nomination favorably, then the committee rejected sending the nomination to the

full Senate without any recommendation. Although the disposition of the vote was 7-7, a majority is required to report

a nomination out of committee. For further information on this example, see “Senate Panel Rejects Lucas for Rights

Post,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 2, 1989, p. 1A.

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circumstances, discharge the committee from further consideration of the nomination in order to

bring it to the floor. 15

The Senate historically has confirmed most, but not all, executive nominations. Rarely, however,

has a vote to confirm a nomination failed on the Senate floor. Unsuccessful nominations usually

do not make it past the committee stage. Failure of a nomination to make it out of committee has

occurred for a variety of reasons, including opposition to the nomination, inadequate amount of

time for consideration of the nomination, or factors that may not be directly related to the merits

of the nomination.

Senate rules provide that “[n]ominations neither confirmed nor rejected during the session at

which they are made shall not be acted upon at any succeeding session without being again made

to the Senate by the President.”16 In practice, such pending nominations have been returned to the

President at the end of the session or Congress. Pending nominations also may be returned

automatically to the President at the beginning of a recess of more than 30 days, but the Senate

rule providing for this return is often waived.17

Appointment

In the final stage, the confirmed nominee is given a commission bearing the Great Seal of the

United States signed by the President and is sworn into office. The President may sign the

commission at any time after confirmation, at which point the appointment becomes official.

Once the appointee is given the commission and sworn in, he or she has full authority to carry out

the responsibilities of the office.

Recess Appointments

The Constitution also empowers the President to make limited-term appointments without Senate

confirmation when the Senate is in recess.18 Such recess appointments expire at the end of the

next session of the Senate. Appendix C provides a table showing the dates of the Senate recesses

for the 110th Congress and showing that during this Congress, President Bush made no recess

appointments to executive department positions.

Presidents have occasionally used the recess appointment power to circumvent the confirmation

process. In response, Congress has enacted provisions that restrict the pay of recess appointees

under certain circumstances. Because most potential appointees to full-time positions cannot

serve without a salary, the President has an incentive to use his recess appointment authority in

ways that allow them to be paid. Under the provisions, if the position falls vacant while the

Senate is in session and the President fills it by recess appointment, the appointee may not be paid

For more information, see CRS Report RL31980, Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and

Floor Procedure, by (name redacted), p. 7.

The rule may be found in U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Manual, 110th

Cong., 2nd sess., S. Doc. 110-1 (Washington: GPO, 2008), p. 58, Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the

Senate.

For an example of a waiver of the rule, see Sen. Harry Reid, “Nominations Status Quo,” Congressional Record, daily

edition, vol. 153, December 19, 2007, p. S16061.

Art. II, Sec. 2, cl. 3.

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from the Treasury until he or she is confirmed by the Senate. However, the salary prohibition

does not apply

(1) if the vacancy arose within 30 days before the end of the session of the Senate;

(2) if, at the end of the session, a nomination for the office, other than the nomination of an

individual appointed during the preceding recess of the Senate, was pending before the

Senate for its advice and consent; or

(3) if a nomination for the office was rejected by the Senate within 30 days before the end of

the session and an individual other than the one whose nomination was rejected thereafter

receives a recess appointment.19

A recess appointment falling under any one of these three exceptions must be followed by a

nomination to the position not later than 40 days after the beginning of the next session of the

Senate. 20 For this reason, when a recess appointment is made, the President generally submits a

new nomination for the nominee even when an old nomination is pending.21 These provisions

have been interpreted by the Department of Justice to preclude payment of an appointee who is

given successive recess appointments to the same position.22

Although recess appointees whose nominations to a full term are subsequently rejected by the

Senate may continue to serve until the end of their recess appointment, a provision of the FY2008

Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act may prevent them from being

paid after their rejection. The provision reads, “Hereafter, no part of any appropriation contained

in this or any other Act shall be paid to any person for the filling of any position for which he or

she has been nominated after the Senate has voted not to approve the nomination of said

person.”23 Prior to this provision, similar wording was included in annual funding measures for

most or all of the previous 50 years.

Another recent congressional response to the President’s use of recess appointments was the

decision, during the latter part of the first session of the 110th Congress, to restructure the Senate’s

longer recesses into a series of shorter recesses divided by pro forma sessions.24 Based upon the

notion that the President can be restricted from making recess appointments during a recess that is

no more than three days, the Senate sought to prevent recess appointments by holding pro forma

sessions approximately every three days. 25 Beginning in November of 2007, the Senate agreed to

5 U.S.C. § 5503(a).

5 U.S.C. § 5503(b).

For further information, see CRS Report RS21308, Recess Appointments: Frequently Asked Questions, by (name red

acted); and CRS Report RL33009, Recess Appointments: A Legal Overview, by (name redacted).

15 Op. O.L.C. 93 (1991). See also 6 Op. O.L.C. 585 (1982); 41 Op. A.G. 463 (1960).

P.L. 110-161, Div. D, § 709.

A pro forma session is a short meeting of the House or Senate during which it is understood that no business will be

conducted.

The Constitution does not specify how long the Senate must be in recess for the President to have the ability to make

a recess appointment. The three-day norm derives from a Justice Department brief written in 1993. In this brief, the

authors posited that because the Constitution allows the Senate to adjourn its session for up to three days without

obtaining the consent of the House, a recess of three days or fewer is not considered “constitutionally significant.” Over

the past two decades, the shortest recess during which a President made an appointment was 10 days. For more

information, see CRS Report RS21308, Recess Appointments: Frequently Asked Questions, by (name redacted). For

the Justice Department brief, see Mackie v. Clinton, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants’

(continued...)

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regularly scheduled pro forma sessions during periods that would have otherwise been recesses of

duration of a week or longer. The Senate recessed on November 16, and pro forma meetings were

convened on November 20, 23, 27, and 29, with no business conducted. The Senate reconvened

and conducted business beginning on December 3, 2007. Similar procedures were followed for

the remainder of the 110th Congress during other periods that would otherwise have been Senate

recesses of at least a week in duration. For the remainder of his presidency, President Bush did

not make any more recess appointments. 26

Temporary Appointments

Congress has provided limited statutory authority for the temporary filling of vacant positions

requiring Senate confirmation. It is expected that, in general, officials holding PAS positions who

have been designated as “acting” are holding their offices under this authority or other statutory

authority specific to their agencies. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,27 when an

executive agency position requiring confirmation becomes vacant, it may be filled temporarily in

one of three ways: (1) the first assistant to such a position may automatically assume the

functions and duties of the office; (2) the President may direct an officer in any agency who is

occupying a position requiring Senate confirmation to perform those tasks; or (3) the President

may select any officer or employee of the subject agency who is occupying a position for which

the rate of pay is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay at the GS-15 level, and who

has been with the agency for at least 90 of the preceding 365 days. The temporary appointment is

for 210 days, but the time restriction is suspended if a first or second nomination for the position

is pending. In addition, during a presidential transition, the 210-day restriction period does not

begin to run until either 90 days after the President assumes office, or 90 days after the vacancy

occurs, if it is within the 90-day inauguration period. The act does not apply to positions on multiheaded regulatory boards and commissions and to certain other specific positions that may be

filled temporarily under other statutory provisions.28

Appointments During the 110th Congress

Table 1 summarizes appointment activity, during the 110th Congress, related to full-time positions

in the 15 departments. President George W. Bush submitted to the Senate 172 nominations to

executive department full-time positions. Of these 172 nominations, 125 were confirmed; 13 were

withdrawn; and 34 were returned to the President under the provisions of Senate rules.29

(...continued)

Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, at 24-26, Civ. Action No. 93-0032-LFO, (D.D.C.

1993).

For further information, see CRS Report RS21308, Recess Appointments: Frequently Asked Questions, by (name red

acted).

5 U.S.C. §§ 3345-3349d.

For more on the Vacancies Act, see CRS Report 98-892, The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to Protect the

Senate’s Confirmation Prerogative, by (name redacted).

Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate provides that “Nominations neither confirmed

not rejected during the session at which they are made shall not be acted upon at any succeeding session without being

again made to the Senate by the President; and if the Senate shall adjourn or take a recess for more than thirty days, all

nominations pending and not finally acted upon at the time of taking such adjournment or recess shall be returned by

(continued...)

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President Bush did not make any recess appointments to the departments during this period.

Table 1. Nomination Action for 15 Departments During the 110th Congress

Positions in the 15 departments (total)

364

Positions to which nominations were made

156a

Individual nominees

167b

Nominations submitted to the Senate during the 110th Congress (total)

172b

Disposition of nominations

Confirmed by the Senate

125

Withdrawn

Returned (total)

End of the 1st session of the 110th Congress

End of the 2nd session of the 110th Congress

Recess Appointments (total)

Source: Table developed by the Congressional Research Service using data presented in the appendices of this

report.

One of the positions, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs, was

filled twice during the 110th Congress. Thomas E. Harvey was confirmed for the position on May 25, 2007, and

then Christine O. Hill was confirmed on October 2, 2008 after Harvey left the position. This is counted as a

single position in the total count of positions to which nominations were made. Considering this a separate

position, since there was a second successful nomination, would bring this count of positions to which

nominations were made up to 157.

The figures shown here reveal that there is a distinction between the number of positions to which nominations

were made (156), the number of individual nominees (167), and the total number of nominations submitted

(172). The number of positions to which nominations were made (156) differs from the number of individual

nominees (167) for two reasons. First, the President sometimes nominated more than one individual successively

to an open position, usually following the return or withdrawal of his original nomination. Second, less

frequently, the President nominated a single individual to more than one position over the course of the

Congress. Again, this usually followed the return or withdrawal of the first nomination. The number of total

nominations submitted (172) is higher than both of these numbers because it includes cases in which the

President nominated an individual to the same position more than once. For example, Anita K. Blair was

nominated for positions three times during the 110th Congress. Two of these nominations were to the same

position in the Navy (but both nominations were unsuccessful and returned to the President), and the third was

to a position in the Air Force. This would count as two positions to which nominations were made, one

individual nominee, and three nominations submitted total.

Length of Time to Confirm a Nomination

The length of time a given nomination may be pending in the Senate has varied widely. Some

nominations were confirmed within a few days, others were confirmed within several months,

and some were never confirmed. This report provides, for each executive department nomination

(...continued)

the Secretary to the President, and shall not again be considered unless they shall again be made to the Senate by the

President.” U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Manual, 110th Cong., 2nd sess., S.

Doc. 110-1 (Washington: GPO, 2008), p. 58.

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that was confirmed in the 110th Congress, the number of days between nomination and

confirmation (“days to confirm”). For confirmed nominations, an average (mean) of 104 days

elapsed between nomination and confirmation. The median number of days elapsed was 92.

The methodology used in this report to count the length of time between nomination and

confirmation differs from that which was used in previous similar CRS reports. The statistics

presented here include the days during which the Senate was adjourned for its summer recesses

and between sessions of Congress. The methodological change reduces the direct comparability

of statistics in this report with those of the earlier research. Reasons for the change include the

conversion of long recesses into a series of short recesses punctuated by pro forma sessions

during the 110th Congress; the fact that although committees may not be taking direct action on

nominations in the form of hearings or votes, they are likely still considering and processing

nominations during recesses; and a desire to be consistent with the methodology used by a

majority of political scientists as well as CRS research on judicial nominations. In addition, an

argument could be made that the decision to extend Senate consideration of nominees over the

course of a recess is intentional, and the choice to extend this length of time is better represented

by including all days, including long recesses. A more detailed explanation of this methodological

change is located in Appendix E.

Organization of This Report

Executive Department Profiles

Each of the 15 executive department profiles provided in this report is organized into two parts: a

table providing information, as of the end of the 110th Congress, regarding the organization’s fulltime PAS positions, and a table listing nominations and appointments to these positions during the

110th Congress. Data for these tables were collected from several authoritative sources.30

The first of these two tables identifies, as of the end of the 110th Congress,31 each full-time PAS

position in the department,32 its incumbent, and its pay level. For most presidentially appointed

positions requiring Senate confirmation, the pay levels fall under the Executive Schedule, which,

as of January 2009, ranged from level I ($196,700) for Cabinet-level offices to level V ($143,500)

for the lowest-ranked positions. An incumbent’s name followed by “(A)” indicates an official

who was, at that time, serving in an acting capacity. Vacancies are also noted in the first table.

Sources include the Senate nominations database of the Legislative Information System http://www.congress.gov/

nomis/, the Congressional Record (daily edition), the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, telephone

discussions with agency officials, agency websites, the United States Code, and the 2008 “Plum Book” (U.S. Congress,

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Government Policy and Supporting

Positions, committee print, 110th Cong., 2nd sess., November 12, 2008, S. Prt. 110-36 (Washington: GPO, 2008)).

The data collected on incumbents at the end of the 110th Congress were collected as of the Senate’s last day of

business on December 11, 2008. Beginning on December 12, agency officials were contacted and the lists of

incumbents were finalized.

As noted above, the following full-time positions are not included in this report: U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal

positions in the Department of Justice; Foreign Service and diplomatic positions in the Department of State; most

officer corps positions in the civilian uniformed services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in

the Department of Commerce, and of the Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services; and

the officer corps in the military services.

Congressional Research Service

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

The appointment action table provides, in chronological order, information concerning each

nomination. It shows the name of the nominee, position involved, date of nomination or

appointment, date of confirmation, and number of days between receipt of a nomination and

confirmation. Actions other than confirmation (i.e., nominations returned to or withdrawn by the

President) are also noted. Some individuals were nominated more than once for the same

position, usually because the first nomination was returned to the President.

Each appointment action table provides the average “days to confirm” in two ways: mean and

median. Both are presented because the mean can be influenced by outliers in the data, while the

median does not tend to be influenced by outliers. In other words, a nomination that took an

extraordinarily long time might cause a significant change in the mean, but the median would be

unaffected. Presenting both numbers is a better way to look at the central tendency of the data.

For a small number of positions in this report, the two tables may give slightly different titles to

the same position. This is a result of the fact that the titles used in the nomination the White

House submits to the Senate, the title of each position as established by statute, and the title of the

position used by the department itself are not always identical. The first table presented for each

department, the table listing the incumbents at the end of the 110th Congress, relies upon data

provided by the department itself in listing the positions. The second table presented, the list of

nomination action within each department, relies primarily upon the Senate nominations database

of the Legislative Information System (LIS). 33 This information is based upon the nomination

sent to the Senate by the White House, which is not always identical to the exact title of the

position used by the department. However, the inconsistency only appears in a small minority of

the positions listed in this report. Inconsistencies are noted in the footnotes following each

appointment table.

Additional Appointment Information

Appendix A presents a table of all nominations and recess appointments to positions in executive

departments, alphabetically organized by last name, and follows a similar format to that of the

department appointment action tables. It identifies the agency involved and the dates of

nomination and confirmation. The table also indicates if a nomination was confirmed, withdrawn,

or returned. The mean and median numbers of days taken to confirm a nomination are also

provided.

Appendix B provides a table with summary information on appointments and nominations, by

department. For each of the 15 executive departments discussed in this report, the table provides

the number of positions, nominations, individual nominees, confirmations, nominations returned,

and nominations withdrawn. The table also provides the mean and median numbers of days to

confirm a nomination.

Appendix C provides a table showing the dates of the Senate recesses for the 110th Congress.

In some cases, the title drawn from the LIS database is expanded upon for clarity in the second table. For example,

Sheila M. Greenwood was nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Her

nomination, as shown in the LIS database, does not indicate which Assistant Secretary position she was nominated to; it

merely states that she was nominated as an Assistant Secretary. In the section on HUD, the second table shows that she

was nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. The expansion of this title

was based upon knowledge of the previous position holder and the title held by that individual. This information is

included to give the reader a better understanding of the position to which the individual was nominated.

Congressional Research Service

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

A list of department abbreviations can be found in Appendix D.

As noted above, this report employs certain methods that differ from reports tracking

appointments during previous Congresses. These methodological changes are explained in detail

in Appendix E.

Congressional Research Service

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Full-Time PAS Positions, as of the End of the 110th Congress

Position

Incumbent

Pay Level

Secretary

Ed Schafer

Deputy Secretary

Charles F. Conner

Inspector Generala

Phyllis K. Fong

Under Secretary – Farm and Foreign Agricultural

Services

Mark E. Keenum

III

Under Secretary – Food, Nutrition, and Consumer

Services

Nancy Montanez-Johner

III

Under Secretary – Food Safety

Elizabeth Johnson (A)b

III

Under Secretary – Marketing and Regulatory Programs

Bruce I. Knight

III

Under Secretary – Natural Resources and Environment

Mark E. Rey

III

Under Secretary – Research, Education, and Economics

Gale A. Buchanan

III

Under Secretary – Rural Development

Douglas L. Faulkner (A)b

III

Assistant Secretary – Administration

Boyd K. Rutherford

Assistant Secretary – Civil Rights

Margo M. McKay

Assistant Secretary – Congressional Relations

Linda A. Strachan

Chief Financial Officerc

Charles R. Christopherson Jr.

General Counsel

Marc L. Kesselman

Administrator – Rural Utilities Services

James M. Andrew

The President may remove an inspector general (IG) from office, as he may remove most other appointed

officials in the departments. In the case of an IG, however, the law provides that “[i]f an Inspector General is

removed from office or is transferred to another position or location within an establishment, the President shall

communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later than

30 days before the removal or transfer.” (5 U.S.C. Appx. § 3 (b)). Under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. Appx. § 3 (e),

“The annual rate of basic pay for an inspector general (as defined under section 12(3)) shall be the rate payable

for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, plus 3 percent.”

Johnson was named as acting in a September 25, 2008 USDA press release. Faulkner was named as acting in a

December 23, 2008, USDA press release.

The chief financial officer (CFO) may be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate,

or may be designated by the President from among agency officials who have been confirmed by the Senate for

other positions (31 U.S.C. § 901(a)(1)).

USDA Nomination Action During the 110th Congress

Nominee

Position

Nominated

Confirmed

Days to

Confirm

Ed Schafer

Secretary

12/06/07

01/28/08

Congressional Research Service

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments

Department of Commerce (DOC)

Full-Time PAS Positions, as of the End of the 110th Congress

Positiona

Incumbent

Pay Level

Secretary

Carlos M. Gutierrez

Deputy Secretary

John J. Sullivan

Under Secretary – Economic Affairs

Cynthia A. Glassman

III

Under Secretary – Export Administrationb

Mario Mancuso

III

Under Secretary – Intellectual Property/Director - U.S.

Patent and Trademark Office

Jonathan W. Dudas

III

Under Secretary – International Trade

Christopher A. Padilla

III

Under Secretary – Oceans and

Atmosphere/Administrator – National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

William J. Brennan (A)

III

Inspector Generalc

Todd J. Zinser

Assistant Secretary – Administration/Chief Financial

Officerd

Otto J. Wolff

Assistant Secretary – Communications and Information

Meredith A. Baker (A)

Assistant Secretary – Economic Development

Santanu K. Baruah

Assistant Secretary – Export Administration

Matthew S. Norman (A)

Assistant Secretary – Export Enforcement

Darryl W. Jackson

Assistant Secretary – Import Administration

David M. Spooner

Assistant Secretary – Legislative and Intergovernmental

Affairs

Nathaniel F. Wienecke

Assistant Secretary – Manufacturing and Services

William G. Sutton Jr.

Assistant Secretary – Market Access and Compliance

David S. Bohigian

Assistant Secretary – Oceans and Atmosphere/Deputy

Administrator – NOAA

William J. Brennan

Assistant Secretary – Trade Promotion/Director

General – U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service

Israel Hernandez

Director – U.S. Census Bureau

Steven H. Murdock

Director – National Institute of Standards and

Technology

Vacant

General Counsel

Lily F. Claffee

Chief Scientist – NOAAe

Vacant

Positions in this column do not include those in the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Within the Department of Commerce, this position is also sometimes known as Under Secretary of Industry and

Security.