at the pleasure of (someone)

idiom

—used to say that something is done or can be done because someone wants it to be done

I serve at the pleasure of the president, and I will continue to serve as long as the president wants me to.

Examples of at the pleasure of (someone) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Most political appointees do serve at the pleasure of the president and are tasked with on some level carrying out his political agenda, but federal prosecutors have traditionally held onto a good amount of independence, for good reason. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 11 May 2025

Under its current structure, the department’s commissioner serves at the pleasure of the mayor, and at times that has created a complicated dynamic. —Jan Ransom, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025

DeSimone also said career civil service employees are not the same as political appointees, who serve at the pleasure of the president and may be asked to resign or be dismissed at any time. —Taylor Giorno, The Hill, 3 Feb. 2025

But an aide to Trump fired Dellinger, who doesn’t serve at the pleasure of the president, on the night of Feb. 7 in a one-sentence email. —Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025