how many senators must confirm a attorney general

How many senators are needed to confirm a judicial nominee?

Mar 10, 2021 · 03/10/2021 02:58pm EST. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Merrick Garland to be the next U.S. attorney general with a strong bipartisan vote, placing the widely-respected, veteran judge in the post as President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the Justice Department’s reputation for independence. Democrats have praised Garland, a ...

How many senators are needed to debate a nomination?

Feb 14, 2019 · Majority rule. The 54 senators voting “yes”, thereby confirming Barr as attorney general, represent 48 percent of voting age Americans, or 107 …

Does the President have to get Senate approval to make appointments?

Oct 27, 2003 · Introduction. Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to appoint the principal officers of the United States. Almost all of the highest-level political appointee positions in the federal government are filled by these officers. 1 Three distinct stages mark the appointment process—selection and nomination by the President, consideration of …

What are the rules for referring bills to the Senate?

Jun 17, 2021 · The Senate rules used to allow unlimited debate (a practice known as filibustering) and to end the debate, it required the votes of 3/5 of the Senate or 60 senators (known as the cloture vote). In April 2017, the Senate changed this rule and lowered the required votes to 51 to end debate on Supreme Court nominations (this is commonly known as "the nuclear option ").

How many Senators are required to confirm a presidential appointment?

[The president] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; 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 ...Sep 17, 2021

Does Attorney General have to be confirmed by Senate?

The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.

How many Senators are needed to approve?

If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill.

How many votes are needed to confirm Cabinet members?

The president may designate heads of other agencies and non-Senate-confirmed members of the Executive Office of the President as members of the Cabinet. The Cabinet does not have any collective executive powers or functions of its own, and no votes need to be taken.

What positions do not need Senate confirmation?

PA positions (approximately 400 positions): Presidential appointments that do not require Senate confirmation. These are senior-level positions, including jobs within the Executive Office of the President such as senior White House aides and advisors.

Does National Security Advisor need Senate confirmation?

The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President and does not require confirmation by the United States Senate. However, an appointment of a three or four-star General to the role requires Senate reconfirmation of military rank.

What presidential actions require Senate approval?

The United States Constitution 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 ...

What's the filibuster rule?

A filibuster is a tactic used by a minority group of members of the U.S. Senate who oppose and prevent the passage of a bill, despite the bill having enough supporters to pass it. The tactic involves taking advantage of the rule that 60 votes are needed to stop debate on a bill.

How many Senate votes are needed to ratify a treaty?

The Constitution gives to the Senate the sole power to approve, by a two-thirds vote, treaties negotiated by the executive branch.

What is the minimum number of senators that must support a president's judicial nominee in order to ensure that he or she is confirmed?

Confirming a Nomination Traditionally, this required support from at least 60 of the 100 senators; in 2013, however, Democrats circumvented the rules with the nuclear option to require only a simple majority of those voting—51 in most cases.

How many positions are confirmed in the Senate?

Introduction. While most of the federal government is composed of career civil servants, there are roughly 4,000 positions filled by political appointees selected by the president. Of those, about 1,200 require Senate confirmation.Aug 9, 2021

Has the US Senate not confirmed a Supreme Court justice?

Justices are nominated by the president and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate. ... There have been 37 unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States. Of these, 11 nominees were rejected in Senate roll-call votes, 11 were withdrawn by the president, and 15 lapsed at the end of a session of Congress.

How do Senate confirmations work?

Whenever a U.S. president nominates someone to fill a position in an administration — whether it's just after the election or another time during the president's term in office — that nominee's appointment must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Somewhere between 1,200 and 1,400 government positions require confirmation.Feb 25, 2021

What Cabinet positions have to be approved by the Senate?

According to a Congressional Research Service report, these presidentially-appointed positions requiring Senate approval can be categorized as follows: Secretaries of the 15 Cabinet agencies, deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, and assistant secretaries, and general counsels of those agencies: Over 350 positions.Jun 3, 2021

What positions do not need Senate confirmation?

PA positions (approximately 400 positions): Presidential appointments that do not require Senate confirmation. These are senior-level positions, including jobs within the Executive Office of the President such as senior White House aides and advisors.

Is Senate confirmation necessary?

Of those, about 1,200 require Senate confirmation. These roles are often critical to the executive branch's effective functioning and include Cabinet secretaries, general counsels, chief financial officers, assistant secretaries and component heads.Aug 9, 2021

Does Congress approve Cabinet members?

The heads of departments, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are members of the Cabinet, and acting department heads also sit at the Cabinet meetings whether or not they have been officially nominated for Senate confirmation.

How many Senators are required to confirm a presidential appointment?

[The president] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; 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 ...Sep 17, 2021

Are assistant secretaries Senate confirmed?

These positions require a congressional hearing and a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. This category includes hundreds of positions, including most positions within the Executive Office of the President. These includes most senior White House aides and advisors as well as their deputies and key assistants.

What is PAS in the Senate?

All presidential appointments requiring Senate confirmation (PAS) must follow the appointment confirmation process before taking office. Although the number of PAS positions varies by administration, it typically includes all executive department secretaries, undersecretaries, and inspectors general. Some roles in independent agencies and ...

How long does a Senate nomination have to be on the executive calendar?

The nomination must be on the Executive Calendar for more than one day before it can make it to the Senate floor for consideration. Unanimous consent of the time and date for debate must be agreed upon by all senators. If even one senator does not agree, a hold is placed on the nomination.

Why did McConnell vote for Garland?

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — who prevented Garland from becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 2016 when he blocked his nomination — said he was voting to confirm Garland because of “his long reputation as a straight shooter and a legal expert” and that his “left-of-center perspective” was still within the legal mainstream. ...

Who is the next attorney general?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Merrick Garland to be the next U.S. attorney general with a strong bipartisan vote, placing the widely-respected, veteran judge in the post as President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the Justice Department’s reputation for independence.

Who is Judge Garland?

Democrats have praised Garland, a federal appeals court judge who was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016, as a highly qualified and honorable jurist who is uniquely qualified to lead the department after a tumultuous four years under former President Donald Trump.

Majority rule

The 54 senators voting “yes”, thereby confirming Barr as attorney general, represent 48 percent of voting age Americans, or 107 million people.

Key votes

Democrats Joe Manchin, Doug Jones and Kyrsten Sinema voted to confirm Barr and one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against Barr.

What is the process of making an appointment to an advice and consent position?

As part of the process of making an appointment to an advice and consent position, the President submits a nomination to the Senate. Most nominations are referred to the appropriate Senate committee or committees on the day they are received. Such referrals are guided by Senate Rule XXV, which establishes the subject matter under the purview of each committee and directs that "all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating primarily to [those] subjects" be referred to that committee. Precedents set by prior referrals, standing orders, and unanimous consent (UC) agreements adopted by the Senate pertaining to the referral of nominations may also influence the referral process.

How many terms does the Foreign Claims Settlements Commission have?

Foreign Claims Settlements Commission#N#* Member—three positions (three-year terms of office—One person is nominated to be the full-time chair of the commission along with two part-time members (22 U.S.C. §1622c (b))

What is Senate Resolution 116?

Hoping to avoid those political pitfalls and delays in the presidential nominee approval process, the Senate, on June 29, 2011, adopted Senate Resolution 116, which established a special expedited procedure governing Senate consideration of certain lower-level presidential nominations. Under the resolution, over 40 specific presidential nominations—mostly assistant department secretaries and members of various boards and commissions—bypass the Senate subcommittee approval process. Instead, the nominations are sent to the chairpersons of the appropriate Senate committees under the heading, “Privileged Nominations – Information Requested.” Once the committees’ staffs have verified that the “appropriate biographical and financial questionnaires have been received” from the nominee, the nominations are considered by the full Senate.

How long does the Senate have to be in recess?

Noel Canning ruled that the Senate must be in recess for at least three consecutive days before the president can make recess appointments.

Who is Robert Longley?

Presidential Appointments Requiring Senate Approval. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. What a compliment! The President of the United States has named you to fill a top-level government position, maybe even a Cabinet-level job.

What is the Plum Book?

The Plum Book, officially the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, lists all presidentially appointed jobs within the federal government. Published every four years after a presidential election, the Plum Book lists the over 9,000 potential civil service leadership and support positions in the Legislative and Executive branches of the federal government that may be subject to presidential appointment. In practice, the Plum Book is best used as a snapshot of presidentially appointed positions within the federal government at the time of publishing.

How many people died in the Oklahoma bombing?

On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb tore apart the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick remembers watching that day, with Garland at her side. "He basically said, while watching children being pulled out of the wreckage, that he had to go," Gorelick said.

Who is the attorney general nominee for Biden?

Merrick Garland, President Biden's nominee for U.S. attorney general, speaks in Wilmington, Del., on Jan. 7. Most people know Judge Merrick Garland for what didn't happen to him. Five years ago, the Senate never acted on his nomination to the Supreme Court. This week, that will change, as a new chapter begins in Garland's lifelong commitment ...

Is Garland a moderate?

Just about the only criticism Garland's nomination has drawn is in the area of civil rights, where his record is less robust. "Garland is a moderate, so I don't see him as the bold and visionary leader on racial justice that some people were hoping for," said Georgetown's Butler.

Who is the Supreme Court nominee for 2016?

In 2016, Judge Merrick Garland was President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. Five years later, he is President Biden's pick to lead the Justice Department.

Committee Hearings

• The nomination is passed to the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the appointed position. Some PAS positions require a joint hearing of two or more committees. Committee hearings allow a close examination of the nominee, looking for partisanship and views on public policy. They can also summon supporters and opponents to testify. Committees are permitted to conduct their o…

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Committee Jurisdictions

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