Last week the U. S. Senate shifted into high gear exercising its constitutional authority and duty to give both “advice and consent” on President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for key Executive Branch appointments.Our Constitution covers the respective roles of the President and the Senate in these matters. According to Article II, Section 2, the President “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and 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 Offic-ers 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, on the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.” This important passage from our Constitution clearly conveys the intent of the framers to both grant and limit the powers of the president when it comes to vital issues of American foreign and domestic policy.