{
  "id": "R40856",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R40856",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 429409,
      "date": "2014-03-31",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:32:42.038937",
      "title": "The Debate Over Selected Presidential Assistants and Advisors: Appointment, Accountability, and Congressional Oversight",
      "summary": "A number of the appointments made by President Barack H. Obama to his Administration or by Cabinet secretaries to their departments have been referred to, especially by the news media, as \u201cczars.\u201d For some, the term is used to convey an appointee\u2019s title (e.g., climate \u201cczar\u201d) in shorthand. For others, it is being used to convey a sense that power is being centralized in the White House or certain entities. When used in political science literature, the term generally refers to White House policy coordination or an intense focus by the appointee on an issue of great magnitude. Congress has noticed these appointments and in the 111th Congress examined some of them. The Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, for example, conducted hearings on the \u201cczar\u201d issue on October 6, 2009, and October 22, 2009, respectively.\nOne issue of interest to Congress may be whether some of these appointments (particularly some of those to the White House Office), made outside of the advice and consent process of the Senate, circumvent the requirements of the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A second issue of interest may be whether the activities of such appointees are subject to oversight by Congress.\nThis report provides background information and selected views on the role of some of these appointees. Additionally, it discusses some of the constitutional concerns that have been raised about presidential advisors. These include, for example, the kinds of positions that qualify as the type that must be filled in accordance with the Appointments Clause, with a focus on examining a few existing positions established by statute, executive order, and regulation. The report also reviews certain congressional oversight processes and assesses the applicability of these processes to presidential advisors. Legislative and non-legislative options for congressional consideration are presented.",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 2153,
          "name": "Executive Branch Appointments"
        },
        {
          "source": "CongOpsList",
          "id": 4154,
          "name": "Oversight of the Executive Branch"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc689219/",
      "id": "R40856_2009Oct09",
      "date": "2009-10-09",
      "retrieved": "2015-08-03T15:06:47",
      "title": "The Debate Over Selected Presidential Assistants and Advisors: Appointment, Accountability, and Congressional Oversight",
      "summary": "This report provides background information and selected views on the role of the appointments made by President Barack H. Obama to his Administration or by Cabinet secretaries to their departments. Additionally, it discusses some of the constitutional concerns that have been raised about presidential advisors.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Executive power",
          "name": "Executive power"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Presidential appointments",
          "name": "Presidential appointments"
        },
        {
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          "id": "Presidential powers",
          "name": "Presidential powers"
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  "topics": [
    "African Affairs",
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Energy Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense",
    "Science and Technology Policy"
  ]
}