Politics

Trump Administration Moves To Fill Key Roles

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Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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The Trump administration has moved rapidly in June to fill key government roles that remain unfilled.

The White House has announced nominations or the intention to nominate individuals to 43 positions requiring Senate confirmation. This includes President Trump’s first wave of U.S. attorney nominations.

The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service have been tracking Trump administration nominations for key positions, and their data shows that Trump is still way behind where former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were at this point in their presidencies.

President Trump has had 42 presidential nominees confirmed, and there are 415 key positions the two organizations have identified that still lack nominees. As of May 20 in his first year in office, former President Obama had 130 appointments confirmed by the Senate, while former President Bush had 60 individuals confirmed.

However, the announcements so far in June show that the administration is picking up the pace. A Saturday story from the Post cited a White House official saying that around 200 people are being vetted daily for senior positions.

The White House has pointed the finger at the lengthy vetting process and obstruction from Democrats for the slow pace at filling top roles.

Some of the nominations announced in June are financier Richard Spencer for secretary of the navy; Brian Allen Benzkowski to serve as an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division; Joseph Otting to be comptroller of the currency; and Kelly Knight Craft to serve as ambassador to Canada.

Positions with no nominee include deputy secretary of state, secretary of the army, and two members of the Securities and Exchange Commission.