The Senate Slow-Walking Presidential Appointments

The Senate’s confirmation process has bogged down, paralyzing entire segments of the federal government. Joe Luppino-Esposito, Deputy Legal Policy Director at the Pacific Legal Foundation, is calling it out. For over two centuries, presidents used recess appointments to get the job done—filling key roles when the Senate was out of town. Dwight Eisenhower, Thurgood Marshall, and even Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan came through this route, which the Constitution permits to keep the government running.

But thanks to a Supreme Court ruling in Noel Canning, the Senate now blocks recesses by holding what are called pro forma sessions. They pretend to be in session, even when not a single senator is actually working. The result? Thousands of critical roles go unfilled, like during Trump’s first term, when the average confirmation process stretched twice as long as under Reagan. Presidents can’t fill senior positions, and the American people miss out on the government they elected.

Luppino-Esposito suggests a bold, practical solution: Reduce the number of roles that require Senate confirmation. Let presidents put their teams in place efficiently—something Trump himself argued for when he urged the Senate to allow recesses, just as they had done for generations. Luppino-Esposito’s take is clear: The Senate’s roadblocks undermine democracy and keep unelected bureaucrats in charge instead of appointees accountable to the voters.

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