As President-elect Donald Trump begins staffing his new administration, questions about the Senate confirmation process have arisen. Members of the president’s Cabinet, as well as hundreds of other executive branch positions, require majority approval by the Senate.

Incoming presidents nominate their picks for top officials shortly after winning the election, but most of the proceedings occur in the next calendar year after the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. The Senate committee with jurisdiction over a position will typically hold a hearing to determine how it will report the nomination to the full Senate. 

Committees can make a favorable or unfavorable recommendation, forward the nomination without a recommendation, or take no action. Unless the committee declines to act, its report goes to the Senate floor for a vote, with a majority of the full Senate needed to approve a nomination. In limited circumstances, a president can make recess appointments without going through the Senate confirmation process. A recess appointment is a temporary appointment to fill a government position while the Senate is not in session. However, this power can only be used when the position is vacant and the Senate is in recess for 10 days or longer. These appointments expire at the end of the following session of the Senate. Thus, a recess appointment made in 2025 would expire on Jan. 2, 2027: the final day of the new Congress.

Presidents from both parties have used recess appointments in the past, but traditionally have not used this power extensively. In recent years, the Senate has tended to block this process by avoiding extended recesses. Indiana’s U.S. senators in the new Congress will be Todd Young and Jim Banks. To contact Sen. Young about nominations under consideration, call (202) 224-5623, or use his office’s email contact form at Email Todd - Senator Young. Senator-elect Banks will not be sworn in until Jan. 3, but currently serves in the U.S. House; his Senate contact information will be shared when available.

For more information on Senate efforts to consider nominations in 2025, please visit the Senate Finance Committee webpage and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee webpage.