THE DAILY FED
Top Jobs Still Vacant
Almost one third of the top political jobs in the Clinton administration have not been filled by new appointees, The Washington Post reported Friday.
About 30 percent of the top 470 political appointments, 67 ambassadorial posts, and additional positions on the federal bench and in regulatory and independent agencies are vacant or have nominees who are awaiting Senate approval.
"There are more vacancies in this administration than you'll find in Disneyland at the height of a hurricane," Paul Light, director of the public policy program at the Pew Charitable Trusts, told the Post.
In his first term, Clinton filled the top rung of the executive branch in a little more than eight months. But critics say it may be a full year into this term before most of the top positions are filled. The Senate can take up to four months to confirm appointees once the President sends their nominations to Capitol Hill.
Robert Nash, White House personnel director, said the vacancies are not seriously hurting executive branch operations because they are being temporarily filled by civil servants or previous appointees waiting for replacements. There are 136 nominees going through the clearance process and 29 candidates in the recruitment stage. The president will send the 136 nominations to Congress in September, Nash said.
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