Until this week, I was unaware that generals appointed to command a military theater (such as Afghanistan) have to be confirmed by the Senate. Why is this? I thought the President was the commander in chief, and could issue orders for any officer under his command to any theater of operations authorized by Congress or the the War Powers Act.
So why does Petraeus have to be confirmed?
Beat me to it. I was going to start a similar thread. At what level does the president not need Congressional confirmation?
All 3 and 4 star ranks are actually temporary positions according to 10 USC 601. To carry that rank that comes with such a position, the law requires that the President nominate and the Senate confirm a general or flag officer to the position, which is accompanied by the stars.
ETA: Senate confirmation is required for all officers to receive their commissions, and for all promotions above the O-3 (Army captain, Navy LT) level.
At what rank do they require a Senate confirmation hearing? I presume army captains/navy lieutenants are mass-confirmed once a year or something like that?
From Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution:
[The President] by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Under this clause, all federal officers, military or civilian, must be appointed by the President with the advices and consent of the Senate, unless (and it’s a big unless) the law establishing the position provides for Presidential appointment without Senate confirmation or appointment by lesser authority.
Under the law governing the armed forces, original appointments as military officers in the grade of Army/Air Force/Marines Captain or Navy Lieutenant, or below, may be made by the President alone, but Majors/Lieutenant Commanders and above require Senate confirmation. 10 USC 531. Similarly, promotion to the grade of Army/Air Force/Marines Captain or Navy Lieutenant may be made by the President alone, while promotion to Major/Lieutenant Commander and above require Senate confirmation. 10 USC 624(c). Normally, the Senate gets a promotion list of, say, Navy Commanders to be promoted to Captain, and routinely confirms the list, though I have heard of the Senate holding up lower officer promotions when it is in a spat with the President over defense policy.
In addition to Senate confirmation to a military officer rank, certain positions (like the 3 and 4 star positions noted above under 10 USC 601) require that the officer occupying the position be specifically appointed and confirmed in the position. Otherwise, I believe the President, as commander in chief, and his Defense Department subordinates have pretty free reign to appoint officers of appropriate rank to positions as necessary for military needs.
There doesn’t seem to be any rule regarding what ranks require a hearing for confirmation, but in practice it seems to be that most if not all civilian appointments and the four-star billets receive hearings.
All that matters is whether or not it requires a Senate vote. Whether they choose to have a hearing on the matter is entirely up to them. They could hold hearings on the promotions of every mid-level officer in the Army, if they wanted. It wouldn’t make the Senate very popular, though.
That’s rank, not job assignment. Petraeus is already 4-star.
The reason he’s a four-star is because he’s in a job that requires four stars. The law says the rank comes with the job.
This may help the confusion. A nomination as it comes over to the Senate from the White House reads thusly:
Bolded the part where it indicates that the rank is linked to the job. He is essentially being nominated to serve in a position that requires Senate confirmation, and that job comes with the appointment to the rank that this individual already holds, because the law requires that he will hold the rank only while he serves in that job.