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Days from nomination to confirmation for Trump administration officials, 2017-2019

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From January 2017 to December 2019, the average time between nomination and confirmation of President Donald Trump's (R) 32 appointments of Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials was 37 days. According to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that tracked political appointees, the time for President Barack Obama's (D) nominees was 66 days and 45 days for President George W. Bush's (R) nominees.[1]

During Trump's presidency, Senate leadership took several steps to speed up the process from nomination to confirmation for appointees, including proposing limiting debate, canceling an August recess, and changing Senate rules. You can read more about each of these changes or attempted changes below.

The U.S. Senate is responsible for providing advice and consent on presidential nominations in accordance with the Appointments Clause of Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Read more about the executive branch nomination process below.

To read more about Trump's Cabinet, click here.

Trump's Cabinet and Cabinet-rank confirmations

The chart below tracked the number of days from nomination to confirmation for Trump's Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials. It also included the vote by which each member was confirmed. Here are some highlights:

  • There was an average of 37 days between nomination and confirmation for Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials.
  • There were 119 days between nomination and confirmation for Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Kevin Hassett.
  • There were zero days between nomination and confirmation for both Secretary of Defense James Mattis and former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly.
  • Two of the 32 Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials nominated by Trump were confirmed by a simple majority of 51 votes.
  • Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had no Democratic support for her nomination. She was confirmed by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote. Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney was confirmed by a vote of 51-49.

Senate rules for confirming executive branch nominees

The U.S. Senate's advice and consent authority for presidential nominations is located in the Appointments Clause of Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which reads:

“ And he 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...[2] ”

After the president sends a nomination to the Senate, most are considered by the appropriate Senate committee. The nominee then testifies before the committee, and the committee holds a vote to report the nomination to the full Senate favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. The committee can also choose to take no action at all.[3]

The full Senate can approve or reject a nomination. Most nominations are brought up by unanimous consent and approved without objection. Routine nominations often are grouped by unanimous consent in order to be brought up and approved together. Some nominations, generally to higher-level positions, may need more consideration. Under Senate rules, there are no time limits on debate except when conducted under cloture or a unanimous consent agreement. Senators may speak on a nomination for as long as they want.[3]

Senate Rule XXII provides a means to end debate on a nomination. At least 16 senators must sign a cloture motion to end debate on a pending nomination. A senator can interrupt another senator who has been recognized in order to present a cloture motion. Cloture may be moved only on a question that is pending before the Senate. Therefore, the Senate must be in executive session and considering the nomination when the motion is filed in the absence of unanimous consent. The Senate does not vote on the cloture motion until the second session day after the day the cloture motion is presented. Once cloture is invoked, there is a 30-hour maximum of post-cloture consideration, including debate, quorum calls, parliamentary inquiries, and all other proceedings.[3]

According to a March 2018 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, “Cloture votes used to be almost unheard of for nominations other than judges. At this point in the past four presidencies combined, only 15 executive-branch nominees were confirmed after cloture. Yet in the current Congress, Democrats have already invoked cloture on more than 50 Trump nominees.”[4]

After the 30 hours of debate passes, the Senate then votes to confirm or reject the nomination. Nominations that are not confirmed or rejected are returned to the president.[3]

Noteworthy events

August recess canceled (2018)

On June 5, 2018, citing Democrats’ obstruction of Trump’s nominees and the need to pass appropriations bills, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) canceled most of the Senate’s August recess. McConnell said in a statement, “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled. Senators should expect to remain in session in August to pass legislation, including appropriations bills, and to make additional progress on the president’s nominees.”[5]

The Senate was scheduled to leave Capitol Hill on August 3, 2018, and return in September after Labor Day. Under the revised schedule, senators returned to their states for the week of August 6, 2018, and returned to Washington, D.C., for the rest of the month.

David Bergstein, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called the cancelation a move to prevent Democrats from campaigning ahead of the midterm elections. He said, "Given his horrendous recruits, Senator McConnell is right to be terrified of Senate Democrats on the campaign trail, but whenever the GOP Congress is in session they find new ways to alienate and disgust voters."[6]

Lankford proposes rules changes (2019)

On February 6, 2019, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) proposed S.R. 50, which sought to limit post-cloture debate from 30 hours to two hours for several types of nominations, including many Executive Branch nominees and district court judges. The resolution did not propose changing the rules for Supreme Court or Cabinet-rank nominees. The U.S. Senate voted 51-49 on S.R. 50 on April 2, 2019, but it failed to receive enough votes to pass. It required 60 votes to change the rules for the remainder of the 116th Congress and 67 votes to become a permanent rule change.[7][8]

In a press release announcing the resolution, Lankford said:[9]

“ In the last two years, the confirmation process has been mired in unprecedented political stall tactics. The Senate nomination process needs to function efficiently again. Presidents, regardless of their party, should be able to pick their staff. It’s the Senate’s role to ensure nominees are capable and qualified; we have a responsibility to provide advice and consent. Needless obstruction of that process is a failure of our duty. This resolution would permanently reduce post-cloture debate time for most nominations and allow the Senate to fulfill a primary constitutional duty of advice and consent. It is time to update the Senate rules so the nomination process can function appropriately again.[2] ”

Senate limits post-cloture debate on presidential nominees (2019)

On April 3, 2019, the Senate voted to change the body's precedent and reduce post-cloture debate allowed on executive nominees below the Cabinet-level and federal district court nominees from 30 hours to 2 hours. Two separate votes on executive nominees and judicial nominees passed 51-48. All but two Senate Republicans—Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Mike Lee (R-Ut.)—voted for the changes, while all Senate Democrats who voted opposed the changes. To enact the changes, the Senate used the nuclear option rather than changing its standing rules.[10]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said his caucus pursued the change due to obstruction by Senate Democrats. He said, "The all-encompassing, systematic nature of this obstruction is not part of the Senate’s important tradition of minority rights. It is a new departure from that tradition. And this break with tradition is hurting the Senate, hamstringing our duly elected president, and denying citizens the government they elected." He also said that many Democrats privately supported the change and would favor it if they controlled the White House.[11]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the change, particularly with regard to judicial nominees. He said, “Two hours for a lifetime appointment is unacceptable. Two hours for a lifetime appointment with huge influence on people’s lives is unacceptable. It’s ridiculous.”[10]

Senate Democrats also said McConnell pursued similar tactics while in the minority. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said, “[McConnell] seems to have completely forgotten the Obama administration. He led the most famous blockade that’s ever happened in the Senate. And that was the blockade of Merrick Garland … it was shameful.”[12]

McConnell responded by criticizing Senate Democrats for using the nuclear option to lower the cloture threshold from 60 votes to 51 votes in 2013. He said, “I said at the time I didn’t like the way it was done. And I thought maybe the other side would rue the day they did it. Amazingly enough, about a year and a half later I’m majority leader. Funny how these things change, isn’t it?”[10]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Partnership for Public Service", "Political Appointee Tracker," accessed June 5, 2018
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 United States Senate, "Nominations," accessed May 1, 2018
  4. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Breaking the Schumer Stall," March 27, 2018
  5. ↑ Twitter, "Sen. McConnell Press," June 5, 2018
  6. ↑ The Hill, "McConnell cancels Senate's August recess," June 5, 2018
  7. ↑ Senator James Lankford, "Senator Lankford Issues Statement on Votes to Change Senate Rules," April 3, 2019
  8. ↑ The Hill, "GOP advances proposal to change Senate rules," April 25, 2018
  9. ↑ Senator James Lankford, "Senator Lankford, Chairman Blunt Introduce Resolution to Reduce Needless Delays for Senate-Confirmed Nominees," February 6, 2019
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Hill, "GOP triggers 'nuclear option' to speed up Trump picks," April 3, 2019
  11. ↑ Politico, "Time to Stop the Democrats' Obstruction," April 1, 2019
  12. ↑ Politico, "Republicans trigger ‘nuclear option’ to speed Trump nominees," April 3, 2019
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