What are recess appointments?
The Constitution empowers the president to appoint ambassadors, judges and “other Officers of the United States,” subject to “the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” Today, more than 1,000 senior positions in the federal government require Senate confirmation. The Framers of the Constitution viewed this division of authority as a way to promote good government through better qualified officials. The Senate, however, wasn’t conceived to continuously be in session, and the vagaries of 18th-century communication and transportation meant that weeks could go by before lawmakers could be reconvened for an emergency. To keep the government staffed, the Constitution allows the president to fill vacancies while the Senate is in recess, but those commissions expire at the end of the next session of Congress. That means a recess appointee can’t hold office longer than two years, the length of a congressional session.