This report provides an overview of the process for filling positions to which the President makes appointments with the advice and consent of the Senate (PAS positions). It also specifies, for the 111 th Congress (January 2009-January 2011), all nominations to full-time PAS positions on 33 regulatory and other collegial boards and commissions that have such positions (e.g., the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Election Assistance Commission). A profile of each board and commission provides information on its organizational structure, membership as of the end of the 111 th Congress, and appointment activity during that Congress. High-ranking appointed leadership positions in the federal government are filled through a process that involves both the President and the Senate. The Constitution empowers the President to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the principal officers of the United States, such as Secretaries and agency heads. Secondary leadership positions—those of so-called "inferior officers"—also may be filled in this manner, where so provided by Congress through law. The term "officer of the United States" encompasses "any appointee exercising significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States." Three distinct stages mark the appointment process: selection, clearance, and nomination by the President; consideration by the Senate; and appointment by the President. In this stage, the White House selects and clears a candidate for a position before sending the formal nomination to the Senate. There are a number of steps in this stage of the process for most Senate-confirmed positions. First, with the assistance of, and preliminary vetting by, the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, the President selects a candidate for the position. Members of Congress and other interested parties have sometimes recommended candidates for specific positions. They have offered their suggestions by letter, for example, or by contact with a White House liaison. In general, the White House is under no obligation to follow such recommendations. Some have argued, however, that Senators are constitutionally entitled, by virtue of the advice and consent requirements of the appointments clause, to provide advice to the President regarding his selection. The scope of this entitlement is a matter of some debate. As a practical matter, in instances in which Senators have perceived that insufficient pre-nomination consultation has occurred, they have sometimes exercised their procedural prerogatives to delay or, effectively, block consideration of a nomination. Most boards and commissions are required, by statute, to have a political balance among their members (i.e., no more than a simple majority may be from the same political party), so the White House has often negotiated over nominations to these positions with leaders of the opposition party in Congress. These negotiations involve questions not only of patronage but of policy, especially when the board or commission is involved in areas that, at the time, may be particularly sensitive. This has sometimes resulted in a packaging process in which the President has submitted several nominations together for positions on a particular board or commission, and the Senate has then considered and confirmed them as a group. During the White House clearance process, candidates for nomination to the positions discussed in this report usually are required to prepare and submit several forms: the Public Financial Disclosure Report (Standard Form (SF) 278), the Questionnaire for National Security Positions (SF 86), the supplement to SF 86 (SF 86 Supplement), and sometimes a White House Personal Data Statement. The vetting process often includes a background investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which prepares a report that is delivered to the White House. It also includes a review of financial disclosure materials by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and an ethics official for the agency to which the candidate is to be appointed. If conflicts are found during the financial disclosure process, OGE and the agency ethics officer may work with the candidate to mitigate the conflicts. At the completion of the vetting process, the nomination is ready to be submitted to the Senate. The selection and clearance stage has often been the longest part of the appointment process. There have been, at times, lengthy delays, particularly when many candidates have been processed simultaneously, such as at the beginning of an Administration, or if conflicts needed to be resolved. Candidates for higher-level positions are often accorded priority in this process. In an effort to reduce the elapsed time between a new President's inauguration and the appointment of his or her national security team, provisions added in 2004 to the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 encourage Presidents-elect to submit, for security clearance, potential nominees to high-level national security positions as soon as possible after the election. A separate provision of law, enacted as part of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, lengthens, during presidential transitions, the potential duration of a temporary appointment by 90 days. This provision does not apply to members of collegial boards and commissions, however. Inasmuch as many board and commission members often serve across presidential terms and administrations, provisions intended to speed the appointment process during transitions might not do so for the positions listed in this report, as a whole. The chairmanships of these bodies often do turn over at these times, however. A nominee has no legal authority to assume the duties and responsibilities of the position; the authority comes with Senate confirmation and presidential appointment. A nominee who is hired by the agency as a consultant while awaiting confirmation may serve only in an advisory capacity. If circumstances permit and conditions are met, the President may give the nominee a recess appointment to the position (see below). Recess appointments may have political consequences, however, particularly if Senators perceive that an appointment is an effort to circumvent their constitutional role. Some Senate-confirmed positions, such as many of those in the executive departments, may also be temporarily filled under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. As just noted, however, positions on most boards and commissions are not covered by this act. During the second stage, the Senate alone determines whether or not to confirm a nomination. The way the Senate acts on a nomination depends largely on the importance of the position involved, existing political circumstances, and policy implications. Generally, the Senate has shown particular interest in the nominee's views and how they are likely to affect public policy. Two other factors have sometimes affected the examination with which a nominee's personal and professional qualities are examined: whether or not the President's party controls the Senate and the degree to which the President becomes involved in supporting the nomination. Much of the Senate confirmation process occurs at the committee level. Administratively, nominations are received by the Senate executive clerk, who arranges for the referral of the nominations to committee, according to the Senate rules and precedents. Committee nomination activity has generally included investigation, hearing, and reporting stages. As part of investigatory work, committees have drawn on information provided by the White House, as well as information they themselves have collected. Hearings provide a public forum to discuss a nomination and any issues related to the program or agency for which the nominee would be responsible. Even where confirmation has been thought by most to be a virtual certainty, hearings have provided Senators and the nominee with opportunities to go on the record with particular views or commitments. Senators have used hearings to explore nominees' qualifications, articulate policy perspectives, or raise related oversight issues. Some committees hold hearings on nearly all nominations that are referred to them; others hold hearings for only some. A committee may decline to act on a nomination at any point—upon referral, after investigation, or after a hearing. If the committee votes to report a nomination to the full Senate, it has three options: it may report the nomination favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. A failure to obtain a majority on the motion to report means the nomination will not be reported to the Senate. If the committee declines to report a nomination, the Senate may, under certain circumstances, discharge the committee from further consideration of the nomination in order to bring it to the floor. The Senate historically has confirmed most, but not all, executive nominations. Rarely, however, has a vote to confirm a nomination failed on the Senate floor. Usually, unsuccessful nominations fail to be reported or discharged from committee. Failure of a nomination to make it out of committee has occurred for a variety of reasons, including opposition to the nomination, inadequate amount of time for consideration of the nomination, or factors that may not be directly related to the merits of the nomination. Senate rules provide that "[n]ominations neither confirmed nor rejected during the session at which they are made shall not be acted upon at any succeeding session without being again made to the Senate by the President." In practice, such pending nominations have been returned to the President at the end of the session or Congress. Pending nominations also may be returned automatically to the President at the beginning of a recess of more than 30 days, but the Senate rule providing for this return is often waived. In the final stage, the confirmed nominee is given a commission, which bears the Great Seal of the United States and is signed by the President, and is sworn into office. The President may sign the commission at any time after confirmation, at which point the appointment becomes official. Once the appointee is given the commission and sworn in, he or she has full authority to carry out the responsibilities of the office. The Constitution also empowers the President to make limited-term appointments without Senate confirmation when the Senate is in recess. Such recess appointments expire at the end of the next full session of the Senate. Seven recess appointments were made to positions on regulatory or other collegial boards or commissions during the 111 th Congress. Presidents have occasionally used the recess appointment power to circumvent the confirmation process. In response, Congress has enacted provisions that restrict the pay of recess appointees under certain circumstances. Because most prospective appointees to full-time positions cannot serve without a salary, the President has an incentive to use his recess appointment authority in ways that permit them to be paid.