The Federal Appointments Process: A Constitutional and Historical AnalysisAlthough the federal appointment of U.S. judges and executive branch officers has consistently engendered controversy, previous studies of the process have been limited to particular dramatic conflicts and have tended to view appointments in a vacuum without regard to other incidents in the process, other legislative matters, or broader social, political, and historical developments. The Federal Appointments Process fills this gap by providing the first comprehensive analysis of over two hundred years of federal appointments in the United States, revealing crucial patterns of growth and change in one of the most central of our democratic processes. Michael J. Gerhardt includes each U.S. president’s performance record regarding appointments, accounts of virtually all the major confirmation contests, as well as discussion of significant legal and constitutional questions raised throughout U.S. history. He also analyzes recess appointments, the Vacancies Act, the function of nominees in the appointment process, and the different treatment received by judicial and nonjudicial nominations. While discussing the important roles played by media and technology in federal appointments, Gerhardt not only puts particular controversies in perspective but also identifies important trends in the process, such as how leaders of different institutions attempt to protect—if not expand—their respective prerogatives by exercising their authority over federal appointments. Employing a newly emerging method of inquiry known as “historical institutionalism”—in which the ultimate goal is to examine the development of an institution in its entirety and not particular personalities or periods, this book concludes with suggestions for reforms in light of recent controversies springing from the longest delays in history that many judicial nominees face in the Senate. Gerhardt’s intensive treatment of the subject will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, government, history, and legal studies. |
Contents
| xi | |
| xv | |
Introduction | 1 |
Part One The Origins Structure and Evolution of the Federal Appointments Process | 13 |
Part Two Evaluating the Roles of the Major Players in the Federal Appointments Process | 79 |
Part Three Reforming the Federal appointments process | 251 |
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Abe Fortas actors administration advice and consent African American Appointments Clause attorney authority Bork Bush cabinet campaign candidates Carter Chief Justice choice Circuit civil rights Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings confirmation process Congress constitutional criteria critical decision Democrats dent EE/MP executive federal appointments process federal judges formal Helms Historical institutionalism ideology impeachment influence instance institutional interest groups Jackson Jesse Helms John judgeships judicial appointments judicial nominees judicial selection Judiciary Committee Lani Guinier leaders legislative Major Players ments Moreover nomi nomination nominee’s norms Notes to Chapter opposition particularly pointments political parties popular President Clinton presidential presidents and senators question Reagan recess appointments Reforming the Appointments rejected Republican senators Robert Bork Roger Taney Roosevelt secretary Senate confirmation Senate’s senatorial courtesy significant Supreme Court Supreme Court nominees term Thomas tion Truman vacancy vote White House William Withdrawn Zoë Baird