Someone was asking downstairs about which appointments needed Senate confirmation. According to the GAO there are 321 presidentially appointed (PA) positions, however Obama… ಠ_ಠ

On August 10, 2012, the President signed into law the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011 (Streamlining Act of 2011).¹ The act eliminated the need for the Senate to vote on 163 executive nominations, converting them to presidentially appointed positions.² The act required GAO to report to Congress and the President on positions in executive agencies that require appointment by the President without Senate confirmation (PA).

All the details are in this PDF (just search for the numbers above).

The bill’s sponsor was Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). You can find the text here if you like reading that sort of thing. Below, a more recent document (August 23, 2016) goes into the details of the confirmation process, what each position entails, whether it’s part-time or full-time, and what the term limits are, if any. At the end is an appendix (page 48 of the document, but page 51 of the PDF) that lists PA positions which no longer require confirmation.

I’m NOT happy with President Obama for that. ಠ_ಠ Yeah, I know the GOP blocked him at every turn, but shit… I’m grouchy now, so I’m retiring for the night.

Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations