About half of Trump's senior Homeland Security officials are placeholders
President Trump likes "acting" Cabinet secretaries — and apparently "acting" everything else.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is out the door and a new, supposedly temporary leader is in her place — a procedure that's definitely not unusual in the Trump administration. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles was also forced out last week, and while he's already been replaced, it still leaves 12 of DHS' 30 leadership positions with temporary placeholders, NBC News reports.
While Immigrations and Customs Enforcement doesn't appear on the graphic, that agency's director has also been serving in an acting capacity since last June. Ronald Vitiello was slated to undergo a confirmation process to become the full-time head of the agency, but Trump abruptly and quietly withdrew his nomination on Friday, saying he wanted to go "in a tougher direction." On Wednesday, Vitello announced his resignation from the acting position altogether, effective Friday.
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.
At the start of this year, nearly half of Trump's Cabinet secretaries were temporary or waiting to be confirmed. Those spots are largely filled now, but in an opinion piece published Wednesday, The Washington Post's Max Boot argued that Trump likely prefers acting appointees because they "are more likely to be loyal to him personally rather than to the Congress or Constitution."
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
