Can President-elect Obamas Senate background grease the wheels of the confirmation process?
The selection and confirmation of political appointees is one of the first, and arguably one of the most daunting, tasks that a president must face. The process involves filling about 4,000 political slots, including more than 1,000 that the Senate must confirm. As a sitting senator turned president-elect, the first since John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama could ease the process for his appointees with his legislative credentials. The Senate vets presidential appointments to high-level positions in the Cabinet departments, independent agencies and regulatory commissions, as well ambassadors, federal judges, U.S. attorneys and marshals, and Supreme Court justices. Ninety-nine percent of presidential appointments are approved, according to the Senate’s online overview of the process. The chamber rejected proposed Cabinet officials only three times in the 20th century. Fewer than 30 other major nominees were rejected.
