Removing Political Considerations from Executive and Judicial Appointments

Campaign Briefing: Decoupling Partisan Politics

Foundations

October 2, 2025

I. Introduction: Restoring Integrity to Presidential Appointments

The appointment powers of the presidency—particularly the nomination of Executive Branch officials and federal judges—represent a central constitutional authority. These appointments shape not only the day-to-day function of government, but also the long-term interpretation of law and execution of policy. When politicized, they become instruments of factional entrenchment and ideological escalation.

This campaign begins with a simple assertion: Appointments must serve the country.

The Constitution entrusts the President with the responsibility to nominate and, with Senate

confirmation, to place individuals in offices of enormous consequence. That responsibility must be discharged in service to the nation—not political alliances, ideological agendas, or transactional rewards.

II. Constitutional Foundation and Structural Distortion

The Constitution grants the President the power to “nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint... Officers of the United States” (Article II, Section 2). This process was never meant to produce perfect political alignment—it was meant to ensure competency, accountability, and independence.

Over time, however, three systemic distortions have taken root:

1. Executive Appointments as Spoils – Too many appointments are used to reward loyalty, raise campaign funds, or reinforce political networks.

2. Judicial Nominations as Policy Tools – Courts are increasingly stacked not with legal minds of neutral rigor, but with ideologues selected for predictable rulings on divisive social and political issues.

3. Senate Advice and Consent as Obstruction – The confirmation process has become a stage for partisan point-scoring rather than deliberative evaluation.

These distortions undermine legitimacy, reduce public trust, and entrench partisanship at the very center of federal governance.

III. Campaign Commitments: Structural Reforms to Depoliticize Appointments

A. Merit-First Executive Appointment Policy

• All Executive Branch nominees for agency leadership will be subject to pre-nomination review by an Independent Public Service Qualifications Panel, which will evaluate:

  • Subject matter expertise,

  • Administrative leadership record,

  • History of ethical and nonpartisan conduct,

  • Affirmative record of public service.

• No nominee will be advanced for political loyalty or campaign contribution history.

• This policy will be made binding by Executive Order on Day One, applicable to all sub-Cabinet and agency head appointments.

B. Judicial Nomination Integrity Protocol

• Judicial candidates will be screened by an expanded Judicial Fitness and Impartiality Council, composed of:

  • Former federal judges,

  • Legal ethicists,

  • Constitutional scholars of varied jurisprudential schools,

  • Retired attorneys from both criminal and civil practice.

• Each recommendation will include a nonpartisan report submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee and published publicly.

• No judicial nominee will be selected from organizations that promote partisan confirmation pledges, such as ideologically rigid advocacy groups.

C. Public Justification Requirement

• The President will publish a written justification for every nomination, explaining:

  • Why this nominee meets the statutory and functional needs of the role,

  • What public experience or service supports the selection,

  • How their presence will advance institutional independence and public trust.

• This justification will accompany the nomination notice submitted to the Senate.

IV. Rebuilding the Senate’s Role in Confirmation

This campaign also seeks to elevate the Senate’s role in appointment confirmations from spectacle to scrutiny. Key reforms:

• Encourage pre-confirmation disclosure of all public writings, speeches, and published opinions by judicial nominees.

• Promote a Senate resolution to restore committee hearing norms, including full questioning rounds and equal time allocations.

• Support the creation of a Non-Partisan Senate Vetting Bureau, tasked with:

  • Archival review,

  • Conflict-of-interest analysis,

  • Uniform background reports accessible to all Senators equally.

“The Senate is not a platform for ideological gamesmanship. It is the filter through which competence and character must pass.”

V. Incentivizing Post-Partisan Culture Through Appointment Strategy

The President cannot control the Senate. But the President can influence political culture through the power of appointment by example:

• Appointing career public servants, not political celebrities.

• Prioritizing civic professionalism over electoral loyalty.

• Rewarding intellectual and judicial credibility, especially in legal and regulatory disciplines.

Additionally, the President will:

• Nominate individuals from across the ideological spectrum who have demonstrated constitutional fidelity and institutional respect, even when those views differ from the President’s own.

• Normalize the appointment of individuals previously confirmed under both Republican and Democratic administrations, where applicable.

VI. Clarifying Accountability After Appointment

To prevent misuse of appointment power after confirmation, this campaign will establish:

• A Post-Appointment Ethics and Impact Review Board for executive officials, charged with:

  • Annual review of conduct, conflicts of interest, and mission adherence.

  • Public reporting of violations or trends requiring intervention.

• A Presidential Letter of Independence provided to each federal judge upon confirmation, affirming that:

  • The judge owes allegiance only to the Constitution,

  • The President will never interfere in judicial decision-making,

  • The administration will defend judicial independence, even when rulings are unfavorable.

VII. Strategic Takeaways for the Campaign

1. Depoliticizing appointments is a structural necessity, not a symbolic gesture.

2. Merit, not ideology, must be the touchstone for all nominations.

3. The President must treat appointments as an extension of public trust, not a private reward mechanism.

“When we choose people to lead this nation, we must ask not how they serve a party—but how they serve the public. Loyalty to the law, not the President, must be the mark of every appointment.”