Atlantic Council: The Senate confirmation process is broken. Here are three ways to fix it.
By Arnold Punaro
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The US Senate’s constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on the US president’s nominees for national security positions is one of its most important and fundamental roles. Senate-confirmed Department of Defense leaders—civilian and military—have the authority to direct the United States’ troops in conflict and the responsibility to ensure those troops are the best trained and best equipped. Several of President Donald Trump’s top nominees, such as Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense and the newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio, recently finished their hearings as part of the Senate confirmation process. More hearings for other candidates will take place in the coming days. But if the past few decades are any indication, expect a long slog ahead.
Over the years, the confirmation process has gone from working well to badly bent to broken. In addition to a dramatic upsurge in the number of nominees requiring confirmation, the length of time required to process nominees in the executive branch and through the Senate has become increasingly protracted, even when there are no objections to a nominee’s qualifications.
