Appointments

• President didn’t have any real staff until 1857
• Staff has grown enormously since then
– Pres now has large bureaucracy of assistants he has difficulty controlling
– Rule of propinquity: power is wielded by people who are in the room when a decision is made
– Presidential appointments can be classified by their physical and political proximity to the pres.

• President’s closest assistants
• Staff typically has worked on campaign; a few are experts
• Always a great deal of jockeying for physical proximity (office close to Oval office) and access to the president

• 3 types of structures, often used in combination to compensate for their weaknesses/capitalize on strengths
– Pyramid structure: most assistants report through hierarchy to chief of staff, who then reports to pres
• Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, late Clinton
– Circular structure: cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to pres
• Early Carter
– Ad Hoc structure: task forces, committees, and informal groups deal directly with the pres
• Early Clinton

• Composed of agencies that report directly to the pres
• Appointments must receive Senate confirmation, unlike White House staff
• Office of Management and Budget, perhaps most important
– Assembles the budget
– Develops reorganization plans
– Reviews legislative proposals of agencies
– Has recently become more of a policy advocate

• Chief executives (secretaries) of the executive branch departments
• Not explicitly mentioned by name in the
Constitution, until the 25 th amendment, but implied in Art. 2 Sec 2
• Presidents have many more appointments to make than Prime Ministers due to competition created by separation of powers
• Presidential control over departments remains uncertain – secretaries become advocates for their departments

(At 2015 State of Union-not all present)

• Pres appoints members of agencies that have quasiindependent status
• “Acting” appointments have increased legislativeexecutive tensions
• In general, independent agency heads can only be removed “for cause” and serve fixed terms
• Exec agency heads serve at the president’s pleasure, though they must be confirmed by the
Senate

• President knows few appointees personally
• Most appointees to cabinet and sub-cabinet have had federal experience
– “In-and-outers” alternate federal govt and private sector jobs (remember: revolving door)
– Modern tendency to place experts, rather than those with a political following into the Cabinet
• Need to consider groups, regions, and organizations
• Rivalry often develops between department heads
(who represent expert knowledge) and White
House staff (who are extensions of president’s priorities)