Rethinking ‘Advice and Consent’

The Democrats have turned the confirmation process for the president-elect’s nominees into an American circus.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senator Schiff questions Pam Bondi during her confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. attorney general, at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, January 15, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Congressional “advice and consent” as outlined in Article 2 of the Constitution began this week as hearings started for President-elect Trump’s nominees for several key Cabinet positions. What became clear almost from the beginning of the first hearing is that while consent of Congress is still a critical check on executive branch power, the advice of our elected officials about who should fill important government positions is of considerably less value.

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