About “The Appointing Power of the Executive”
Federalist No. 76, written by Alexander Hamilton, was published on April 1, 1788. It is part of the Federalist Papers, a series of eighty-five essays written to support the ratification of the United States Constitution. These essays were written by Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the name of Publius. Federalist No. 76 focuses on the appointment power of the executive and the system of checks and balances. It is the tenth in a series of 11 essays examining the powers and limits of the executive branch. Hamilton discusses three ways to assign appointment power: to a single person, a group, or an individual with the assembly's agreement. He argued that the president should have the power to nominate, but the Senate should have the power to approve, to reduce bias. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)