Trump administration still riddled with key vacancies

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/trump-white-house-staff-vacancies-241457?lo=ap_d1

Trump administration still riddled with key vacancies
Even after a late-July Senate breakthrough on confirmations, close to 150 nominees are awaiting approval.

By ELANA SCHOR

08/11/2017 05:23 AM EDT


The Senate ended its bitterly partisan health care debate last week with little-noticed harmony on confirmations, as more than five dozen picks by President Donald Trump were cleared for senior posts across the government.

But that spree of approvals still leaves the president with 147 nominees awaiting Senate action — significantly more than the previous four administrations had as of early August, according to a tally kept by the independent Partnership for Public Service.

Former President Barack Obama had 115 nonjudicial civilian nominees still waiting for Senate confirmation by Aug. 7 in his first term, while Bill Clinton had 87 and George H.W. Bush had 104, according to the Partnership.

Trump also lags in naming advisers to critical positions, with 354 of the 577 top jobs tracked by the Partnership still unfilled more than six months after his inauguration.

And despite the recent breakthrough, prospects remain unclear for ending the confirmation slowdown. Democrats have used procedural tools to drag out even run-of-the-mill approvals, infuriating Republicans.

The vacancies are particularly widespread at the State Department, where more than two dozen assistant secretary and undersecretary positions remain without a nominee. The openings have triggered alarm among Democrats, given Trump's tough talk about North Korea.

But the Treasury, Education and Health and Human Services departments also lack confirmed deputy secretaries to serve as No. 2 to Trump's Cabinet chiefs.

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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/trump-white-house-staff-vacancies-241457?lo=ap_d1