The President’s Foreign Policy Appointment Power Is Being Undermined

Jake Perlmutter*

In the modern Executive Branch, the President must rely on delegations of power to achieve their agenda. In the sensitive realm of foreign affairs, where a line of jurisprudence has established that the President enjoys enhanced authority relative to the domestic realm, the President’s ability to place trusted personnel in posts within the State Department and the ambassadorial service is essential for the exercise of this enhanced presidential authority. But the modern status quo, in which individual senators can effectively block nominees indefinitely, requires remedy. The President’s existing ability to appoint foreign affairs officials pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act is not strong or clear enough to overcome the obstructionist Senate, and recent legislation restricting the President’s unilateral diplomatic appointment ability only further restricts presidential power in the realm of foreign affairs. If the President is to fully enjoy the foreign affairs powers entrusted to the office by the Constitution, policy change is urgently needed.

           *   Jake Perlmutter received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2024. He wants to thank his parents, Mitchell and Leslie Perlmutter, as well as his uncle, Stephen Myrow, for encouraging him to pursue his interests in law and politics. He also wants to thank Professor Matthew Waxman for his contributions to this Note as well as Jessica A. Betancourt and the rest of the editorial staff of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law for their excellent work.