Q: The president appoints many positions, not just department heads. With the Price resignation, how many positions are filled with temps or are vacant (including ambassadors)?
—Tony V. Parrott, Fayetteville
A: On Oct. 6, the Washington Post and nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service reported that of 602 "key positions" requiring Senate confirmation, 142 appointments by the Trump administration have been confirmed.
Key positions, defined by PPS, include cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsel, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical posts among about 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s resignation Sept. 29 created a cabinet-level vacancy.
Another 165 key nominations are currently going through Senate confirmation. Six more have been announced but not formally submitted, and 289 have no nominee.
In August, the Washington Post reported that while Trump was slow to submit nominations to the Senate early on, the confirmations have not “kept pace,” even as nominations picked up, due to procedural delays in the Senate.
The average time to confirm a Trump nominee is 61 days, according to the Post and PPS. By comparison, the average time for confirmation for nominations in the Obama administration was 44 days. For Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, it was 32 and 33 days, respectively.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
About the Author
