How Does A President Get His Cabinet Confirmations 101
How Cabinet Nominations Work, How Often They Fail, and How Long They Take to Get Approved
Crashers! This week I'm trying something different on the 'stack: actual writing! If you've been following along, you're used to my explainer videos (don't worry, they're not going anywhere). But after wrapping the book, I have to admit -- I miss putting words to the page.
So, I'm testing the waters. Love it? Hate it and want to stick to the quickie videos? Drop me a note either way. Let's go!
Ah, the Cabinet confirmation process: part job interview, part reality TV.
This week, the Senate is back in the spotlight, kicking off hearings for President Trump's first wave of Cabinet nominations in his second act as president. The headliner? Pete Hegseth, Trump’s lightning-rod pick to lead the Department of Defense. In total, 12 nominees will have their time in front of the Senate this week alone.
So, how do cabinet confirmations work, and why should you care? Here’s a quick rundown so you’ll know what’s dominating the news—and the drama—in D.C. this week (and for the next few).
The Process
Picture the Senate as a 100-member hiring committee, but with way more grandstanding. The president submits a nominee for a cabinet post—like Secretary of Defense, Treasury, or Health and Human Services. (Altogether, the cabinet includes secretaries of the 15 executive departments, plus a few other key positions.) Then, under the advice and consent clause of the Constitution, the Senate decides whether to confirm or reject the pick.
Here's the basic playbook for the nominations/confirmation process:
Nomination: The president nominates someone. There are no mandatory qualifications for nominees.
Committee Review: The appropriate Senate committee vets the nominee, digging through their résumé, their experience, and
maybedefinitely their old tweets. The Armed Services Committee is in charge of the Dept. of Defense nomination, the Agriculture Committee leads the nominee for the Department of Agriculture, etc. etc.Hearing: The nominee then faces the committee in a public grilling—ahem, hearing. Senators ask questions ranging from insightful to downright awkward. Supporting senators want to make the nominee look good; opponents want to make them look bad in front of the bright lights
Committee Vote: The committee votes first. If they greenlight the nominee, the whole Senate will then vote.
Senate Vote: the full Senate then gives the nominee a thumbs up or down, majority wins. If the nominee gets a majority, that person is then confirmed. Fun (or not so fun) fact: Prior to 2013, it used to take 60 votes to confirm a cabinet nominee because of the Senate filibuster.
How Often Do Nominations Fail?
While the Senate confirmation process can resemble a high-stakes drama, the reality is that most Cabinet nominations sail through, often with big majorities.
Outright rejections by the Senate are rare. In over two centuries, the Senate has formally rejected only NINE Cabinet nominees. The last time a cabinet nominee was voted down by the Senate was in 1989, the year Taylor Swift was born.
More commonly, nominations fail before reaching a Senate vote. To avoid the public embarrassment of the Senate rejecting their nominee, Presidents often withdraw nominations when it's evident they lack sufficient support, and nominees themselves may step aside to avoid a contentious confirmation process. This is what happened when Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination for Attorney General amid mounting opposition. Had Gaetz sayed in (and Trump allowed him to) it was likely the Senate would have voted him down.
During his first term, President Trump withdrew four nominations. President Biden had one cabinet nomination withdrawn. Neither had a nominee rejected by Senate vote.
Main point: No matter how controversial the nominee is, if the Senate gets to a vote, the overwhelming odds are that the nominee is going to get approved.
How Fast Are Cabinets Confirmed?
Depends. Unhelpful, huh?
If the Senate majority aligns with the president’s party, confirmations tend to move faster. That’s what we have now with Trump’s second term. Also, national security roles—like Defense, State, and Homeland Security—typically take priority over domestic policy departments like Commerce.
Historically, the confirmation process for cabinet-level positions has been relatively swift. During the administrations from 1981 to 2009, the average time from nomination to confirmation for cabinet nominees was approximately 25 days.
Times, they are a-changin’. At least a little bit.
Check out the wonderful visual comparing the confirmation timelines of Presidents Trump (1.0) and Biden provided by the angels at Ballotpedia.org. While Trump had two nominees confirmed on his first day in office, he didn’t get his full cabinet confirmed until 97 days in. Biden had his full team in place 61 days into office.
The Bottom Line
The Senate can move as fast—or as slow—as it wants to confirm the president’s nominations. It alone decides the speed and timing of the confirmation votes.
If the votes are there, expect a quick confirmation; if they’re not, you’ll hear plenty about vetting, investigations, and due diligence as Senate Republicans work to either round them up or to signal to President Trump (or the nominee) to pull the plug.
Love the quick explainer videos, but this was a great read. Keep both mediums coming!