Anne Joseph O'Connell

(Originally published by Brookings on December 29, 2021)

Before it adjourned in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 18, the Senate pushed out a remarkable 87 confirmations in its final week this year. The week’s tally marked the Senate’s most productive spurt since President Biden took office. On the agency side, the Senate confirmed forty-four ambassadors or special representatives with ambassadorial rank (one was also confirmed as the alternate representative to the United Nations); ten assistant administrators or secretaries; two undersecretaries; two independent regulatory commissioners (one was confirmed separately as chair); one U.S. attorney; one agency general counsel, seven members (and one chair) of various councils, endowments, and boards; and three other officials.

(Continue reading the opinion essay on Brookings’ page here.)