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."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US