Britain, which holds an election Thursday, is currently arguing over whether Prime Minister Theresa May, when she was home secretary, cut police funding to a dangerously low level, in light of recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London. In the U.S., President Trump has reacted to the London Bridge attack with a renewed push for his "travel ban" and calls to "stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people," but he has yet to nominate an FBI director, a leader for the Transportation Security Administration, a Homeland Security Department official to take charge of securing America's cyber and physical infrastructure, a director for the National Counterterrorism Center, an assistant attorney general for national security, or, for that matter, an ambassador to Great Britain.
Trump's "counterterrorism strategy could be hindered by dozens of vacancies across the government," argues Politico's Andrew Restuccia. In all, 135 days into his presidency, Trump has nominated just 102 of the 559 key positions in his administration that require Senate confirmation, with 39 of those confirmed. Fifteen people are awaiting formal nomination — including billionaire Robert "Woody" Johnson, for ambassador to London — and Trump hasn't even started the process on 442 key nominees, according to the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service's appointee tracker. All security-related departments have vacant deputy positions, and some of the numerous empty desks at the State Department may stay empty.
"This is a team sport," Max Stier, the head of the Partnership for Public Service, tells Politico. "It's critical to have a full team." Many of the positions are filled with career bureaucrats or diplomats who are experts in the field, so "in terms of an immediate response to an attack, the agencies will probably do fine," said Daniel Benjamin, State Department counterterrorism coordinator under former President Barack Obama. "The real problems come later, when the administration has to readjust strategy to deal with the threat, do the hard work of figuring out if there was a vulnerability in some security or immigration system, and then remedy it." You can read more about Trump's national security staffing issues at Politico. Peter Weber
We have our first stunning 2019 Emmys upset.
Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge just won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in a massive upset over Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Louis-Dreyfus was widely considered to be the race's front-runner, as she had never before lost the award for playing Selina Meyer on HBO's Veep, which concluded its final season earlier this year.
Had Louis-Dreyfus won for Veep's final season, she would have set the new record for most acting Emmys by a performer in history. She is still tied with Cloris Leachman for most wins. In her acceptance speech, Waller-Bridge, who previously won for writing, expressed as much surprise as prognosticators.
This could indicate that Fleabag itself, which also won a directing Emmy Sunday, could score an upset win over Veep in the night's top comedy category later in the evening. Veep won that prize for its past three seasons. Brendan Morrow
Could Bill Hader have a Julia Louis-Dreyfus-style Emmys winning streak ahead of him?
Hader picked up the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy Sunday for the second year in a row for his acclaimed performance on HBO's Barry. He was widely considered the clear front-runner in the category and beat out The Kominsky Method's Michael Douglas and The Good Place's Ted Danson.
In his acceptance speech, Hader thanked co-creator Alec Berg, saying, "I don't know where I'd be without you."
Other actors who have won in this category twice in a row in recent years include Transparent's Jeffrey Tambor, The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, and 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin. Prior to Hader's repeat win, Alex Borstein, who won the supporting actress in a comedy award for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, also won her second consecutive Emmy Sunday. Brendan Morrow
Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series on Sunday night, and immediately cracked a few jokes onstage.
"I find writing really, really hard and really painful, and I'd like to say, honestly from the bottom of my heart, this the reason why I do it is this," she said, as she stared at her award. "So it's all made it really worth it, guys." After thanking her Fleabag colleagues, Waller-Bridge shared that it's "just really wonderful to know and reassuring that a dirty, pervy, messed-up woman can make it to the Emmys." Catherine Garcia
Alex Borstein is having a marvelous night at the Emmys, as she just scored her second straight supporting actress win.
Borstein took home the Emmy Sunday for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, previously winning the same award in 2018.
In her speech, Borstein thanked the cast and crew of Mrs. Maisel, including creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, as well as her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.
Borstein joins the ranks of Betty White, Kate McKinnon, and Julie Bowen, who have all won this award at least two times. Brendan Morrow
Tony Shalhoub just won a primetime Emmy for the first time in more than a decade.
Shalhoub took home the Emmy Sunday for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, beating out nominees like Barry's Henry Winkler, who won last year.
"It takes a village," Shalhoub said while thanking the crew behind Mrs. Maisel.
This is Shalhoub's first time scoring Emmy gold since he won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Monk in 2006. He also won the same award for Monk in 2003 and 2005, making this Shalhoub's fourth Emmy win. He was nominated for Mrs. Maisel in 2018.
It's not Shalhoub's first time receiving awards recognition for Mrs. Maisel, though; he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series earlier this year. Brendan Morrow