President Andrew Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney as secretary of the Treasury in September 1833 while Congress was in recess. As a recess appointee, Taney served without the Senate’s consent until the end of the following congressional session. Aware that the Senate would rebuff his choice, Jackson waited until late in the next session to submit Taney’s formal nomination.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
President Andrew Jackson’s Nomination of Roger B. Taney to be Secretary of the Treasury, June 23, 1834
Congress Defies President Andrew Jackson
Conflict between Congress and the White House marked the administrations of President Andrew Jackson, particularly concerning the second Bank of the United States, which Jackson opposed. During a congressional recess in 1833, he appointed Attorney General Roger B. Taney as secretary of the Treasury. As a recess appointee, Taney could act without Senate confirmation to remove the bank’s federal deposits. When the Senate reconvened, it refused to confirm Taney’s appointment––for the first time formally rejecting a cabinet secretary.
To the Senate: Commissions having been granted during the recess of the Senate to Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, as Secretary of the Treasury… I now nominate them to those offices respectively.
Andrew Jackson, Message to the Senate, June 23, 1834
President Andrew Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney as secretary of the Treasury in September 1833 while Congress was in recess. As a recess appointee, Taney served without the Senate’s consent until the end of the following congressional session. Aware that the Senate would rebuff his choice, Jackson waited until late in the next session to submit Taney’s formal nomination.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
