(CNN)The family separations saga has revealed failures of governance, competence and humanity and made one thing clear: President Donald Trump doesn't believe Harry S. Truman's famous mantra, "The buck stops here."

Seventeen days ago, Trump, in a rare display of bending to public outrage over his policies, seemed poised to fix the family separation crisis with a stroke of his pen.
It didn't turn out that way.

The administrative and moral morass over children taken from their parents under the White House's "zero tolerance" policy after illegally crossing the southern border is as intractable as ever -- even though it's no longer tearing at the public's conscience in such a direct and emotional way.

On Friday, in the latest sign of disarray in the administration, officials admitted in court that they may miss a judge's Tuesday deadline to reunite children under 5 with their parents. One of the complications is that officials are conducting DNA tests on children to ensure they are reunited with their own parents.