Trump, responding directly to Fox News, says he meant to leave the government understaffed

President Trump on Tuesday wasted no time responding to a rare criticism voiced on Fox & Friends, a must-watch show for the president.

Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham argued during Tuesday morning's episode that the havoc wreaked by Tropical Storm Harvey proves how imperative it is that the Trump administration fill the many vacancies at federal agencies, particularly those tasked with disaster recovery. "I think we can all look at these horrific pictures, and we can conclude a federal government does need staff. We see it acutely in need of staff in a situation like this," Ingraham said.

While the Trump administration has claimed that Democrats are holding up the nomination process, Ingraham noted that the administration hasn't even nominated people for hundreds of vacant positions. Politico reported that 366 positions requiring Senate confirmation are "currently without a nominee." "This is a question that has to be posed to the administration. I know they have a lot on their hands, but we have to have people in place," Ingraham said. "If there's a plan to not staff and cause the ultimate shrinkage of government, then let's hear about that as well."

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Trump took this opportunity to claim that these vacancies were actually all part of his grand plan. Despite his repeated attacks on Democrats for "taking forever" to confirm nominees, Trump tweeted Tuesday that he didn't even want all those positions filled anyway. Becca Stanek