& consent?

can you tell me how anyone determined that the advice and consent clause requires the senate to vote nominees up or down?

nothing in the grammar or the logic of the clause leads to such a conclusion.

on the contrary, "by and with the advice and consent of the senate" is a parenthetic phrase modifying "he...shall appoint...," so it is self-evident that it limits a president's power to appoint but does not obligate the senate in any way.

further, the framers appear to have anticipated the recent controversy and emphatically resolved any possible ambiguity by putting the clause in article ii, which deals with the powers and duties of the president, not article i, which might have implied a duty of congress.