[1] The case concerned the appointment method of special trial judges of the United States Tax Court.

The judges of the Tax Court were to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve a term of 15 years.

The Fifth Circuit rejected the defendant's arguments and affirmed the Tax Court's decision, ruling the statute authorized the appointment.

Under the clause, Congress may invest the power to appoint inferior officers of the United States in the President, Heads of Departments, or the Courts of Law.

While agreeing with the defendants that the special trial judge was an officer of the United States who must be appointed in conformity with the Clause's requirements, Blackmun rejected the notation that their appointment by the Chief Judge of the Tax Court did not comply with the Clause.

Reviewing the historical rationale behind the Appointments Clause, Blackmun noted the Clause's principal purpose was to limit who could exercise the power to appoint federal officers, thereby ensuring those who wielded the power were accountable to the American people.