On Friday, after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, the Senate is expected to confirm his picks for defense secretary, retired Gen. James Mattis, and homeland security secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly, plus maybe designated CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) — but the other nominees will have to wait. Those won't be the only holes in the new Trump administration, however. Trump has named only 30 of his roughly 660 executive office appointees, according to the Partnership for Public Service, putting him far behind recent incoming presidents.
To keep the government running, the Trump transition team said Thursday it will keep on 50 essential national security and State Department officials appointed by Obama until their replacements are in place. Included in the list is Thomas A. Shannon Jr., who will be acting secretary of state.
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