Nearly half of Trump's Cabinet is now 'acting'

Trump and his &quot;acting&quot; Cabinet — (Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Trump starts 2019 with a bunch of new faces in his Cabinet, though almost all of them have "acting" appended to their titles. At a rambling, televised 95-minute Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal notes, Trump was surrounded by Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

Some of the acting officials have been acting for a while, like Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, who's nearing the end of his allowed 210 days as acting EPA chief. Others, like Bernhardt, took over more recently; his predecessor, Ryan Zinke, left his office Wednesday after writing an official resignation note in red Sharpie. The rules about how long someone can serve in an acting capacity are kind of complicated, but you can puzzle through them at Lawfare.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.