A day away from June, the White House has nominated just 117 people for the 559 "most important Senate-confirmed positions," Politico reports. Adding to the woes, the staff in charge of the hiring is running into an unanticipated roadblock: Potential staffers are choosing to stay away from an administration embroiled in an investigation into possible collusion with Russia.
"It's an additional factor that makes what was an already complicated process of staffing the government even harder," said one of Trump's transportation hiring advisers, Max Stier.
At least three potential hires in the past two weeks told one lawyer working for the administration that they are no longer interested due to the ongoing, and mounting, investigation into ties to Russia. "You're going to have a situation where [the Trump administration is] going to have trouble getting A-list or even B-list people to sign up," said the lawyer. The White House disputed such claims, with a spokeswoman saying the president is still getting people "of the highest quality" to join the administration.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition to the search for a new FBI director, there are vacancies in second-to-the-top spots at the departments of Agriculture, Education, Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, and nominees for Commerce and Treasury deputy secretaries have both withdrawn. At this same point in Barack Obama and George W. Bush's first terms, both leaders had nominated approximately twice as many people as Trump has now.
"There's no doubt in my mind that people are being very cautious, to put it mildly," the lawyer said.
-
GPS jamming: a new danger to civil aircraftThe Explainer Use of the 'invisible threat' is on the rise
-
'Axis of upheaval': will China summit cement new world order?Today's Big Question Xi calls on anti-US alliance to cooperate in new China-led global system – but fault lines remain
-
Educating Yorkshire: a 'quietly groundbreaking' documentaryThe Week Recommends The 'uplifting' return to Thornhill Community Academy is a 'tonic' for tough times
-
Trump crypto token launch earns family billionsSpeed Read The World Liberty Financial token is now the Trump family's 'most valuable asset'
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revoltSpeed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich throwerSpeed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodusSpeed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official saysSpeed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judgesSpeed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
