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Today and in the days to come, we will be expanding on major world events and reporting on issues that concern you. Talking with newsmakers, experts and VOA's own reporters to help make sense of this quickly changing world – AS IT IS. Hello, I'm Steve Ember. On our show today, we tell about the United States Senate's process of confirming the president's nominees for important government positions. We look at some of the concerns surrounding the immigration issue in the United States. And we examine a change in how Kenya governs itself. President Obama is awaiting Senate confirmation for several Cabinet nominees. The Senate recently approved John Kerry as the president's choice for secretary of state. Mr. Kerry had resigned earlier as a senator from Massachusetts to become America's top diplomat. Jim Tedder has our story. Under the United States Constitution, the Senate has the power to advise and consent – give approval – on nominations sent to it by the president. For years, senators generally have let the president have the people he wanted for these jobs. But expert presidential historian Allan Lichtman says that began to change in the 1980's. "Traditionally, of course, presidents usually get their way with appointments. And that remains the rule. However, since the 1980's, confirmations have become more bitter and more political." That change began with the battle in 1987 over the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Senate Democrats defeated the nomination of the conservative judge. In 1991, Clarence Thomas was confirmed as Supreme Court justice, but only after a dispute in the Senate. | 
