More Advice, Less Consent

The Senate's confirmation hearings get off to a less-than-edifying start.

THE SENATE confirmation process is often viewed in terms of gladiatorial combat: Is the nomination "in trouble"? Will the nominee be roughed up? Will the opposing party get a scalp? A rousing confirmation battle can be fun to watch -- as, no doubt, some found the proceedings in the Colosseum -- but that really shouldn't be the point. Confirmation hearings offer an opportunity for nominees to lay out, to the extent possible, their views about the policy and managerial challenges they will confront, and for lawmakers to lay down markers on issues that matter to them. This is true even -- maybe even especially -- when the Senate is controlled by the same party as the White House. After all, the Constitution contemplates the advice of the Senate as well as its consent.

The process did not start well last week. The hearing on former senator Thomas A. Daschle's nomination as secretary of health and human services was more lovefest than serious discussion of complex policy issues. Nonetheless, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the committee's ranking Republican, secured Mr. Daschle's pledge to try to use the regular legislative process to accomplish health-care reform rather than short-circuiting normal Senate rules by folding the measure into what's known as "reconciliation." The hearings for the nominee for labor secretary, Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.), were even more disappointing. On numerous issues -- so-called "card check" legislation for union organizing, a Bush-era regulation on overtime pay, an executive order allowing nonunionized companies to obtain federal contracts, state right-to-work laws -- Ms. Solis offered variations on: "That's something that I think I'm not prepared to give you a complete answer on at this time."

This week's confirmation calendar is crowded with a dozen hearings, including for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General-designate Eric H. Holder Jr. and Education Secretary-designate Arne Duncan. There will be understandable limits to what Ms. Clinton can say, for example, about the situation in Gaza. But it would be helpful for the committee to probe, among other areas, how Ms. Clinton plans to navigate any conflicts between her role as secretary of state and her husband's global foundation; in particular, the committee should study whether the promised disclosure and review of Mr. Clinton's activities could be strengthened.

Mr. Duncan has been hailed as a consensus candidate because his selection pleased people who hold starkly different ideas about how to improve schools. So what does he intend for the landmark No Child Left Behind law? Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has raised legitimate, significant questions about Mr. Holder's nomination: Does his role in the pardon of financier Marc Rich or other matters give cause for concern about his ability to "maintain his independence from the president," as Mr. Specter put it. Likewise, the concerns expressed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta's lack of experience in the intelligence field are eminently reasonable. Mr. Panetta is a knowledgeable and skilled public servant, but it is fair to ask how he proposes to compensate for the fact that this is not his area of expertise.

Except in extraordinary cases, a president is entitled to the Cabinet secretaries of his choice. But the Senate is entitled -- in fact, it is obligated -- to ask probing questions, and to expect, to the maximum possible extent, answers that go beyond, "I'll get back to you on that."