The Appointments Clause assigns the next move to the president: nomination. Presidents assess professional competence, legal experience, integrity, judicial philosophy, coalition commitments, representation, and the likelihood that a nominee can win Senate consent. These considerations make selection politically important, but a nomination is a proposal to fill an office, not the appointment itself.

The Senate supplies or withholds advice and consent. After consent, the president completes the appointment, ordinarily followed by issuance of a commission and the judge's oath before service begins. The separate stages matter. A public announcement does not make someone a judge, and a nominee does not acquire judicial power while the Senate is still considering the choice. Chapter questions often test this sequence by stopping the facts after nomination or after a committee action.

Appointment also differs from the creation of the seat. Congress determines the number and organization of lower-court judgeships within constitutional limits. The president chooses a nominee for an authorized vacancy. The Senate evaluates that choice. Keeping those actors separate prevents the common mistake of giving one branch control over the entire judiciary.

Not every federal adjudicator follows the same arrangement. Article I judges and other adjudicative officers may serve fixed terms under statutory appointment systems, while Article III district judges, circuit judges, and Supreme Court justices receive tenure during good behavior after appointment. A question about a life-tenured federal judgeship therefore points to presidential nomination, Senate consent, and completion of the appointment.

Worked application. Congress authorizes a new circuit judgeship, the president names a candidate, and the Senate has not voted. Congress created the seat, and the president supplied the nominee, but the vacancy remains unfilled. The next lesson explains how the Senate performs its checking role; the decisive point here is that nomination begins selection without completing appointment.

Video lesson: Structure of the Court System: Crash Course Government and Politics #19