Current Events: The President's Cabinet

The term “The President’s Cabinet” was coined by James Madison, father of the Constitution, when referring to George Washington’s top advisors. The first cabinet of the US had only four members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Currently, presidential cabinets are 16 people, usually the heads of the executive departments and the Attorney General of the United States.

Article II, Sec 2 of the Constitution stipulates that the President’s nominees receive the advice and consent of the Senate; 2/3 of the Senate must vote yea for confirmation. Confirmation hearings give Senators a chance to examine the qualifications of each nominee and ask questions. Senate rules were changed after The Civil War to first require Senate committees review and interview nominees before a full Senate confirmation hearing goes forward. Most nominees are confirmed. You can see a list of those who were not on the Senate’s webpage here.

President Trump announced his cabinet picks in November of 2024. He threatened to make recess appointments if the Senate did not move quickly to confirm his top picks. The Constitution allows presidents to make ‘recess appointments’ if the Senate cannot meet, though these were meant as an emergency measure as clarified in the 2014 Supreme Court ruling National Labor Relations Board v Noel Canning.

Over the past few weeks, The Senate has confirmed a handful of nominations and is continuing to hold hearings for the remaining nominations. The rest of the President’s picks appear on track for approval, though not without controversy.

The resources below examine the historical trends in cabinet nominations and Senate hearings, as well as recent news coverage of the review of President Trumps nominations. There are also educational materials on the Executive Branch and the departments within. Civics Learning Project’s Senate Cabinet Confirmation Hearing lesson plan gives students a chance to form their own opinion as to the suitability of the person for the job, and give a speech recommending a yea or nay vote to the rest of the Senate.

Essential Questions:

What is the form and function of a Presidential cabinet?
How have Presidential cabinets changed over time?
Who are President Trump’s nominees for his second term?
How are the Senate confirmation hearings going for Trump’s nominees?
What are your thoughts about his picks?

Vocabulary:

President’s Cabinet: the team of people who advise the President on all important problems they must face and lead the departments for the Executive Branch of our government
Executive Departments: The fifteen executive departments that carry out the day-to-day administration of the federal government
vetting process: a thorough investigation of a person, company, or other entity to determine if they are suitable for a particular role or action
recess appointment: presidents have limited powers to make temporary appointments when the Senate is not in session