(This opinion essay was first published for The Washington Post on October 28, 2021.)

The Biden administration has a lot of vacancies for politically confirmed appointments. At the nine-month mark, for the 805 positions being tracked by the Partnership for Public Service and The Washington Post, the Biden administration had only 155 confirmed leaders (and 209 term appointees or holdovers). Over 240 nominations were sitting with the Senate. But close to 200 jobs lacked a formal or announced nominee: For those positions covered by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, the 300-day time limit for acting officials will run out in the middle of next month without a nomination, though almost all of their duties will then be carried out through delegation orders. The Trump administration accepted astounding numbers of vacancies, and staffing shortages are common across all modern administrations. But vacancies have consequences.

(Continue reading the opinion essay on The Washington Post’s page here.)