Guide to Government · Executive Branch
Appointments and Nominations
Follow how presidents choose officials, and how the Senate reviews many of those choices.
What Appointments and Nominations Are
The President selects many senior federal officials and federal judges, but many of those choices require Senate review. A nomination is the formal request for the Senate to consider a person for an office. Appointment is the legal step that places a person in office after the required process is complete — nomination and appointment are two distinct stages, not the same thing.
Which Jobs Usually Matter Most
Cabinet secretaries, many agency leaders, ambassadors, federal judges, U.S. attorneys, marshals, inspectors general, board members, and commission members can all shape public policy. Some offices run programs; others enforce law, regulate industries, manage budgets, represent the United States abroad, or decide cases.
How Senate Review Works
Nomination Submitted
The President formally sends the nomination to the Senate.
Committee Vetting
Senate committees collect questionnaires, ethics documents, background information, and written answers.
Committee Hearing and Vote
A committee may hold a hearing, then votes on whether to report the nomination to the full Senate.
Full Senate Vote
The full Senate debates and votes. Some nominations move quickly; others stall over policy disputes, ethics questions, workload, holds, or election-year conflict.
Why Confirmations Matter
Confirmed officials can steer agencies, set enforcement priorities, issue rules, manage grants and contracts, represent the country, and make legal decisions. For judges, lifetime tenure makes nomination and confirmation especially consequential — a confirmed judge may shape federal law for decades, well beyond any single administration.
