House Passes Legislation to Reduce Number of Executive Positions Subject to Senate Confirmation

Bi-partisan Bill is Reform Proposal Outlined in No Labels' Make The Presidency Work!

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Jul 31, 2012, 11:22 ET

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tonight the House of Representatives approved S. 679, legislation that reduces the number of executive positions subject to Senate confirmation. Decreasing the number of executive positions to come in front of the Senate for confirmation is one of the most important proposals in No Labels' Make The Presidency Work! action plan.

Make The Presidency Work! is No Labels' new initiative aimed at streamlining the American presidency. A core element of the plan is to reform to the presidential nominations process.

"The direct results of this legislation are clear," said Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "Important positions will be filled faster, government agencies will be more capable of offering valuable services to their constituents, and the overall confirmation process will be more efficient."

Senator Lieberman partnered with Senators Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, and Charles Schumer to lead the effort to pass the legislation in June 2011, following an agreement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"The Senate's confirmation process of executive nominations has become increasingly overburdened," said No Labels Co-Founder Bill Galston. "The appointments of far too many well-qualified and experienced nominees have been stalled due to congressional gridlock, and, as a result, important positions have gone unfilled. Tonight's breakthrough is a very encouraging sign that reform can happen when our leaders work together."

"No Labels has repeatedly called for real reform to the broken presidential appointment process," said No Labels Co-Founder Dan Schnur. "Tonight, we saw that this issue can be dealt with in a true bi-partisan fashion. This is a clear example of what our leaders can do when they work across the aisle to fix broken and outdated processes. We look forward to working with them in implementing the other elements of our plan."

Another presidential appointment reform proposal outlined in No Labels' Make The Presidency Work! action plan calls for an up or down vote on all presidential nominations after 90 days.