Recess Appointments Made by All President’s

 A recess appointment occurs when a U.S. president appoints an individual to a federal position while the Senate is in recess. These appointments are temporary, lasting until the end of the Senate's next session unless confirmed by the Senate during that time.

Here’s a list of some significant recess appointments made by U.S. presidents over the years:

1. George Washington

John Rutledge: Appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1795 during a recess, but the Senate later rejected his nomination.

James Monroe: Appointed to the position of U.S. Ambassador to France in 1794.

2. Abraham Lincoln

William P. Fessenden: Appointed Secretary of the Treasury in 1864 during a Senate recess.

3. Woodrow Wilson

William B. Wilson: Appointed Secretary of Labor during a recess in 1913. Wilson later sent his nomination to the Senate for confirmation.

Franklin K. Lane: Appointed Secretary of the Interior in 1913.

4. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hugo Black: Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court during a recess in 1937.

James F. Byrnes: Appointed as Secretary of State in 1945 during a recess.

5. Harry S. Truman

John J. Parker: Nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court in 1951, but his recess appointment was not confirmed after significant opposition.

6. Richard Nixon

William Ruckelshaus: Appointed as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

Elliot Richardson: Appointed Attorney General during a recess in 1973, before the Watergate scandal escalated.

7. Gerald Ford

Nelson Rockefeller: Appointed Vice President in 1974 following the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew. Ford made this recess appointment as the Senate was not in session.

8. Jimmy Carter

Rodino Jr.: Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals during a recess in 1978.

9. George H. W. Bush

Clinton Appointments: Bush made several high-profile recess appointments during his presidency, including a couple to the U.S. District Court.

10. Bill Clinton

William H. Rehnquist: Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court as Chief Justice during a recess in 1994.

11. George W. Bush

John Bolton: Appointed Ambassador to the United Nations during a recess appointment in 2005, after the Senate failed to confirm him. His appointment was highly contentious.

12. Barack Obama

Marty Walsh: Appointed Secretary of Labor during a Senate recess in 2021.

Cordray: Richard Cordray was appointed Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during a 2012 recess appointment, which led to legal challenges.

13. Donald Trump

William Barr: Appointed Attorney General during a recess in 2019.

Mark Esper: Appointed Secretary of Defense during a recess in 2020.

14. Joe Biden

Biden’s recess appointments have been relatively limited so far in comparison to earlier administrations, as the Senate has often been in session. However, Biden has used this power to make temporary appointments to the U.S. Federal Reserve and other positions requiring Senate confirmation.

Important Notes:

Recess appointments are made when the Senate is in recess and unable to confirm or reject a nominee. This power is a way for the president to fill vacancies that might otherwise be left unfilled for a long period of time.

Controversies often arise with recess appointments, particularly if they bypass the Senate’s traditional role of advice and consent. The Supreme Court ruled in NLRB v. Noel Canning (2014) that a president’s power to make recess appointments is limited to inter-session recesses, not intra-session breaks.

This list highlights some notable recess appointments, but many others have occurred across different administrations.