Steven Mnuchin confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee January 2017 after being nominated for Secretary of the Treasury. Image: mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffBottlenecks in the process for getting nominees confirmed to top agency positions have left persistent vacancies in leadership that “make it more difficult for agencies to carry out the fundamental roles of government, from national security to public health and safety,” the Partnership for Public Service has said.
It said that 83 appointive positions requiring Senate confirmation lacked confirmed nominees for at least half the time over 2009-2023, with 20 not having anyone confirmed since the end of the Obama administration. “In some cases, agencies may not take certain actions because they are waiting for confirmed leadership to arrive,” leaving acting officials to perform those duties, it said.
Among the 20 positions without confirmed nominees for the most time between 2009 and 2023 is the deputy director position at OPM; two positions—a Justice Department special counsel for immigration related unfair employment practices, and the State Department CFO—lacked confirmed nominees for the entire time.
Further, the situation is worsening, with Biden administration nominees taking nearly three times longer to be confirmed than those of the George H.W. Bush administration, and 250 to 300 fewer nominees confirmed through the third year compared with Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Recommendations included ending the requirement for confirmation for fulling certain positions, starting with those that are persistently vacant. “Removing positions from the Senate confirmation process will reduce the burden on presidents and the Senate, as well as provide agencies with more stable leadership to accomplish their missions,” it said.
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