Trying to Tame a Presidential Appointment Process 'Gone Bonkers'

The list of presidential appointees is long -- very long -- and the appointment process, particularly for jobs that require Senate confirmation, can take months. In the meantime, agencies and the public they serve suffer from lack of leadership. There's one sure way to help speed the appointment process for the many jobs that don't rise to the level of the High Court, and that is to cut the number of appointees. Edward Gresser -- author of the Democratic Leadership Council's new paper called "An Easy Fix for the Appointment Crunch" -- says "the Senate should stop confirming any deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, deputy undersecretaries, bureau heads, general counsels, and chief financial officers." He suggests that by reserving confirmation for Cabinet secretaries, heads of independent agencies and inspectors general, Congress would "preserve the Senate's constitutional role in confirming genuinely senior administration officials." The current system "serves the American people very badly," he added in an interview. He argues that the sluggishness of the process damages the process of government, and makes it hard to define and implement government policy.