From: Outside Online
“Nearly two years into the Trump administration, the DOI, for instance, has nearly as many of these vacant positions that must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate (eight), as it has filled (nine). And there is currently no nominee for seven of those eight jobs, points out Jeff Ruch, PEER’s executive director. Instead, the administration is staffing these jobs with “acting” chiefs, who can be selected by the administration and who therefore don’t need Senate approval. Such fill-in roles are supposed to be temporary. That’s not happening, watchdogs say. “It is becoming clear that, except when unavoidable, such as Supreme Court vacancies, the Trump Administration is bypassing the bother of Senate confirmation,” PEER wrote this week in an op-ed.”
