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Presidential Appointments Requiring Senate Confirmation

The Obama Presidency, Guide To Presidential Appointments

by Kathy Gill
for About.com

Jan 3 2009

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 )

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