Presidential Appointments Requiring Senate Confirmation

Running the guantlet of interviews to obtain a Presidential appointment is only the first step for about 1,000 presidential appointments. The second step is confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

• Top of the list, of course, is the 15 Cabinet chiefs - they're all called "Secretary" except the Attorney General. There are five other Cabinet-rank positions that also require confirmation.
• Next comes the deputy secretaries, under secretaries, assistant secretaries and general counsels to those 15 cabinet-level agencies. And the heads of cabinet-rank regulatory agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Department of Justice: appointments of U.S. Attorneys and marshalls. It was a scandal in U.S. Attorneys appointments that derailed former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. These appointments are not supposed to be partisan or idealogically-driven.
• Ambassadors to foreign nations (and the United Nations)
• Economic appointments, such as the Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Leaders of non-regulatory executive branch agencies

This is a partial list of presidential appointments -- other than Cabinet-level appointments -- that require confirmation by the Senate.

Syntax: White House Office, Position - Nominee (Announcement Date)

• Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan E. Rice (1 December 2008)
• National Security Advisor, General Jim Jones, USMC (Ret) (1 December 2008)
• Chair, Council of Economic Advisers - Christina Romer (24 November 2008)
• Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget - Rob Nabors (25 November 2008 )