Our view: Trump Show features ‘acting’ officials in key roles
In the unreality show that is the Trump presidency, you might not have noticed that three major federal departments — Homeland Security, Interior and Justice — have vacancies in more than half of their senior positions.
Or that the president’s acting Homeland Security secretary doubles as his head of Customs and Border Enforcement.
Or that his acting White House chief of staff is also his budget director.
Or that the Department of Defense and the Secret Service are lacking permanent heads. And Trump has only re- cently selected a plausible candidate to head the Federal Aviation Administration on a permanent basis.
Try as you might, you just won’t find a previous president so inept at staffing his own government. The ramifications of this are disturbing.
Some of the most important positions in government are vacant, or are being staffed by people who are stretched thin. Some haven’t been vetted or confirmed by the Senate, which increases the possibility of court challenges to their decisions.
And what does President Donald Trump say about all this? He claims to like the mayhem of having so many acting officials, saying it “gives me more flexibility.”
That’s just great. The captain of the battleship that is the U.S. government has flexibility. Meanwhile, he’s lacking people he needs to oversee his ship’s weapons, navigate or feed the crew.
The real reasons that Trump has so many vacancies are more obvious. One is that he often appoints, or tries to appoint, people who are not up to the job. He left the FAA without a permanent boss in part because he wanted his personal pilot to get the job. That came back to bite him when two Boeing 737 MAX jetliners crashed, and the FAA was slow to ground the fleet.
Another is that people he gets into the job are forced to quit due to ethical problems.
But the main reason is that Trump treats his top people like disposable contestants on “The Apprentice.” Kirstjen Nielsen, recently forced out as Homeland Security secretary, was a Trump loyalist. But with refugees still arriving from Central America, Trump needed someone to take the fall.
Her ouster further depletes the ranks of an already understaffed department, one with a mission that extends well beyond immigration to terrorism, natural disasters and airport security.
With Trump’s track record of mistreating people, and with so many officials leaving the administration with their reputations in tatters, he will find it harder and harder to attract qualified senior aides.
Like substitute teachers, agency heads in temporary positions typically lack the authority and expertise to do their jobs as well as those with greater job security.
Trump’s revolving-door administration provides plenty of drama, but it doesn’t serve the public interest.