5 Key Nominations Trump Hasn't Made

What’s the story?

According to a recent round up by the Washington Post, 601 key positions in the federal government have yet to be filled that require Senate confirmation. Of those 601, 291 still have no nominee. Career staff in departments can keep the ball rolling on regular projects, but if there are any crucial decisions to be made or advocacy to be done with Congress or the White House, interim appointees do not have the power or leverage to perform optimally.

Here are five of those positions that deserve your attention:

Undersecretary for arms control and international security affairs, State Department

The Undersecretary would be a lead advisor on the fate of the Iran nuclear deal. Their specialty is in managing global U.S. security policy as it pertains to non-proliferation, arms control, regional security and defence relations, and arms transfers and security assistance. They oversee the negotiation, implementation, and verification of international arms control and security agreements.

Undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, Department of Agriculture

The Undersecretary administers 15 nutrition and food assistance programs, including billions of dollars worth of food stamps, promotes federal dietary guidelines and works with public-private partnerships to address issues of food insecurity and hunger.

Areas already dealing with food insecurity who have now been decimated by hurricanes in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean, have no direct advocate in the federal government.

Census Bureau Director, Department of Commerce

The Census Bureau is the primary collector of data on the social and economic activities and characteristics of the U.S. population. Among the primary projects of the Bureau is the population census mandated by the Constitution, which dictates the annual dispersal of hundreds of billions of dollars of federal money to states and local communities and prompts the redrawing of legislative district lines.

The preparations for the next count, in 2020, are already underfunded according to department officials and lawmakers. That count will be used to redraw district lines in an attempt to address the partisan gerrymandering that is currently being debated by the Supreme Court.

Inspector General, Department of Defense

The Inspector General conducts and supervises audits and investigations of the department, uncovering any waste, fraud or abuse, and making recommendations for improvement.

The 2018 fiscal budget is likely to involve significant increases to defense spending, yet there is no one currently tasked with making sure that taxpayer money is spent well.

Undersecretary for national protection and programs directorate

The Undersecretary leads efforts to protect and enhance the resiliency of the nation’s physical and cyber-critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks and other cyber intrusions that threaten national security.

This is the department to deal with election hacking, but there’s no one in charge to make sure our future elections are protected from cyber-intrusion.

What do you think?

Does Congress need to insist that these positions get filled as soon as possible? Or is the administration engaging in a necessary reduction of staffing of the federal workforce?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: US Dept of Homeland Security via Twitter/ Creative Commons)

RELATED READING:

On Countable…

• Fact Tuesday: The Language of Partisan Gerrymandering

• Census Chief Resigns: Here's Why You Should Care

• Administration Proposes Massive Cuts to Food Stamps, $190 Billion Over 10 Years

Elsewhere…

• Trump plans to declare that Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest — Washington Post

• Trump Still Hasn’t Gotten Around to Appointing Someone to Protect Our Elections From Cyberattacks — Mother Jones

• The Risks Of An Underfunded Census — NPR