“Acting” officials have held down 22 Cabinet and Cabinet-level jobs for a combined 2,700 days — about 1 out of every 9 days across those jobs.
President Trump announced this week that acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire will be replaced by a new acting director, Richard Grenell, after a blowup with Maguire. Yet even with the move, there is still no nominee for the permanent job, nor has there been for more than six months.
It’s merely the latest top Trump administration job for which the president hasn’t bothered to find a permanent replacement for long periods of time. As Trump’s Cabinet has churned thanks to discord and scandal, he has increasingly opted to just go with acting officials for indefinite periods.
The result is a U.S. government that is increasingly run by people who haven’t been confirmed, or whom the president hasn’t otherwise seen fit to make official. Continue reading.