President Donald Trump’s administration has more vacant jobs in Cabinet or Cabinet-level agencies than President Barack Obama at this time during his first term, according to The New York Times.
Twenty-five weeks into his administration, the Senate has confirmed 33 nominees, and Trump has nominated or announced 57, whereas Obama had 126 confirmed and 43 nominated. Trump has 120 empty high-level positions, while Obama had only 41 unfilled slots.
Trump has announced only 36 percent of the 188 leadership positions below the secretary level, according to the New York Times analysis. Obama had announced 78 percent by the same time.
The analysis indicates that on average Trump’s nominees have taken nine days longer to be confirmed than Obama. Many departments have only the top job confirmed, and 10 out of the 15 cabinet agencies are operating without the second highest job. And several nominations for that second spot only occurred after Trump’s 100 days in office.
The White House argues that Democrats are to blame for the vacancies, the analysis states. Thus far in Trump’s presidency, Democrats have used obstruction tactics and distractions to delay confirmations of nominees they disagree with, on the basis that they feel that the nominees are unfit.