The Congress may not vest the appointment of officers elsewhere than, as permitted by the Constitution, in the President alone, the President and the Senate or the heads of departments. In Ekiu v. United States9 is said:

"It was argued that the appointment of Hatch was illegal because it was made by the Secretary of the Treasury, and should have been made by the superintendent of immigration. But the Constitution does not allow Congress to vest the appointment of inferior officers elsewhere than 'in the President alone, in the courts of law or in the heads of departments;' the Act of 1891 manifestly contemplates and intends that the inspectors of immigration shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury; and appointments of such officers by the superintendent of immigration could be upheld only by presuming them to be made with the concurrence or approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, his official head." 10