MBE Rules · Constitutional Law
Appointments Clause
Art. II §2; Buckley/Lucia
The rule
Principal officers require presidential nomination and Senate confirmation; Congress may vest appointment of inferior officers in the President alone, courts, or department heads — but never in Congress itself.
In plain English
The Appointments Clause of the Constitution outlines how federal officers are appointed. Principal officers must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, while Congress can delegate the appointment of inferior officers to the President, courts, or department heads, but not to itself.
Worked example
The President nominates a new Secretary of State, and the Senate confirms the nomination. Meanwhile, a federal agency appoints a new administrative assistant without Senate approval. The appointment of the administrative assistant is valid because it is an inferior officer appointed by a department head.
Memory hook
Principal officers need the President and Senate; inferior officers can be appointed by others.
The trap
Exams often confuse students by presenting scenarios where Congress appears to be involved in appointments, leading students to overlook the prohibition against Congressional appointments.
How examiners test it
Questions typically present a fact pattern involving the appointment of federal officials, requiring candidates to identify whether the appointments comply with the Appointments Clause.
Drill this rule until it can't fail you.
Vrenberg generates unlimited questions on this exact rule, tracks your mastery of it, and brings it back until it sticks.