1. Presidential Appointments and the Judiciary Last time: –agency theory and managing the president –the politics of appointments Judicial appointments

2. Managing the president Presidents: agents of the American people in foreign/security policies The public suffers from –hidden information, hidden action, Madison’s dilemma, Collective action problem Generic remedies: –screening and selection mechanisms; contract design; monitoring and reporting requirements; institutional checks –Elections serve as screening/selection mechanisms –Constitution limits how/when compensation can be changed Congress (1) monitors president and imposes reporting requirements; (2) acts as institutional check on presidential initiatives –But MCs have their own political goals and strategies that may conflict with performing as an effective check on the president

3. Presidential appointments Presidential appointments (~1200 total) –“Constitutional” offices (Senate advice and consent, but serves at pleasure) –statutory offices (Prez has sole authority to hire and fire) –independent agencies (advice and consent; fixed terms) What is reversion point? –recess appointments; commissions/boards vs single administrators

4. The main players Cabinet: heads of principal executive departments –also, sub-cabinet level agencies not headed by commissions (e.g., FDA) Executive Office of the President White House Organization Independent agency commissions –e.g., SEC, the Fed; FEC, NLRB, etc.

5. Cabinet Cabinet composition in 19 th century: –bargaining at national nominating conventions –regional representation –factional balancing 20 th century evolution –civil service reform limited patronage opportunities in regular departments –radio and TV helped create the media cult of the presidency; popularization of presidential campaigns and change in nominations made candidates less dependent on bargaining –appointments become increasingly about non-geographic descriptive representation (ethnic, gender diversity becomes an issue in 1960s, first with Democrats)

6. What do Cabinet Sec’ys do? Statutory heads of departments. They (not the prez) are legally responsible for policy outputs Prez can fire/threaten to fire, but law limits prez influence over implementation Prez can require reports from dept heads Congress can end-run prez control over information through hearings, subpoena powers

7. Executive Office of the Prez Created in 1939 by executive order, pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939 –Bureau of the Budget (now OMB) moved out of Treasury; Natural Resources Planning Board; Office of Government Reports; Liaison Office for Personnel Management Today’s EOP; 9 offices PLUS W.H.O., VP’s office, residential staffs; 1,800 staff and budget of ~$250 million: –OMB; Office of the US Trade Rep; Office of Administration; Nat’l Security Council; Nat’l Drug Control Policy; Office of Policy Development; Office of Science and Tech Policy; Council of Economic Advisers; Council and Office on Enviro Quality

8. Independent agencies & Judiciary Presidential appointment is constrained; removal power is denied –consequences for delegation by congress to agency? Boards, Commissions, Panels: reversion pt is not the status quo –appointment “regimes”: unconstrained, partially constrained, completely constrained Judiciary: another institutional check on the bureaucracy, shapeable by Congress