Members of the Cabinet of the United States are nominated by the president and are then confirmed or rejected by the Senate. Listed below are unsuccessful cabinet nominees—that is, individuals who were nominated and who either declined their own nomination, failed the confirmation vote in the Senate, or whose nomination was withdrawn by the president. The latter category includes near nominations, meaning presumptive choices made by a president or president-elect that never progressed to formal nomination stage. Nominations to cabinet-rank positions are also included in this page.
To date, nine nominations to the cabinet have been rejected by the Senate. In addition, 18 nominations or near nominations have been withdrawn, either by the president or by the person chosen. President John Tyler holds the record for most cabinet nominees rejected by the Senate; four of his nominees failed to win confirmation.[1]
- ^ Robert A. Nowlan, The American Presidents, Washington to Tyler: What They Did, What They Said, What Was Said About Them, With Full Source Notes (MacFarlan & Co., 2012), p. 378.