Trump leans on acting officials as confirmations stall

Trump relies – President Donald Trump’s choice of housing official Bill Pulte to temporarily oversee the U.S. intelligence community has drawn sharp criticism from government reform advocates, who say the move underscores a broader pattern: relying on acting officials as the

When President Donald Trump tapped Bill Pulte. a housing official. to temporarily lead the intelligence community next week. it immediately struck many critics as mismatched. Pulte, they say, lacks national security experience, and when the appointment was announced he did not have a security clearance.

Trump. however. is treating the role as a short. purposeful disruption—an “acting position” meant to “shake things up and clean house.” In remarks on June 4 in the Oval Office. Trump said the job would not be permanent: “It’s an acting position. it’s not a permanent.” He added that with Pulte in the role. “He may find out some things about the rigged elections.”.

Government reform advocates argue the appointment fits a familiar pattern from Trump’s second term: he has been leaning harder on acting officials across agencies while Senate confirmation power faces new political strain ahead of November’s election.

“It’s a layer cake of mismanagement,” said Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that lobbies for effective government.

Stier said the broader issue is not only that leaders are being reshuffled quickly. but that the government’s civil service has been pressured by efforts to cut positions and root out what Trump believes is a “deep state” set against him. In that environment, Stier warned, leaders with no background in the agencies they are leading create conditions for serious fallout.

“It is a recipe for waste, corruption, incompetence, and bad outcome for the American people,” Stier said.

The Pulte appointment also puts two separate strains on display in how Trump has been running the federal government.

First is the president’s willingness to use acting officials to temporarily bypass the Senate confirmation process—an approach critics say he does more frequently and openly than in the past.

Second is the practice of concentrating unrelated responsibilities into the hands of trusted aides, leading to “odd job combos,” as the article described.

The legal framework matters here. The law that sets up the director of national intelligence role requires that anyone nominated for the post “shall have extensive national security expertise.” When Pulte was announced for the top intelligence job. he had not been shown as holding a security clearance. The article also notes that Pulte has not been nominated for the permanent role.

Still, the law has a mechanism for emergencies and vacancies: if a vacancy occurs, the principal deputy director of national intelligence “shall act for” the director during the vacancy. The principal deputy director is described as an experienced former CIA officer named Aaron Lukas.

But another law enters the picture for acting appointments: the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. The act was passed on a bipartisan basis, in part to limit a president’s ability to avoid Senate approval for PAS—presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed—roles.

Under the Vacancies Act, PAS roles can only be filled by the top deputies, other top officials in the agency, or another Senate-confirmed official. The article says Pulte is a Senate-confirmed official.

Time limits also apply. Acting officials can serve for 210 days after a vacancy occurs. If the president nominates a permanent replacement, the 210-day clock stops during the nomination process. The president gets another 210-day period for an acting official if the first nomination fails or is withdrawn—but the act does not allow a third such period.

The article says presidents of both parties have routinely violated the law, according to the Government Accountability Office.

It also points to examples of how Trump’s second term has left other government oversight roles without permanent leadership. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is described as having previously been tasked with leading the Office of Government Ethics. which is supposed to guard against conflicts of interest. and the Office of Special Counsel. which plays a role aiding government whistleblowers. In the article. Trump is portrayed as having little use for either office in the second term. with neither led by a permanent leader at the moment.

Even entities built to investigate or adjudicate problems are operating with gaps. The Federal Election Commission is described as not currently having enough commissioners to launch investigations. The US Merit Systems Protection Board is described as having sort of a quorum. but only because its Senate-approved chairman. Henry Kerner. is also acting vice chairman.

The Partnership for Public Service, Stier’s group, is tracking a broader shortage of confirmed leadership. The article says there are about 1,300 Senate-approved positions, and the group is tracking more than 800 key roles. It adds that more than 270 of those roles have no nominee from the Trump administration. while about 100 roles have a nominee who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. The article says this is a slightly higher confirmation rate for Trump 2.0 than either the Biden administration or the first Trump administration.

Even with those numbers, the core argument from reform advocates is that the way acting officials are being used is testing the laws meant to keep the Senate’s “advice and consent” role meaningful.

“This appears to be the primary lesson he learned from his first term,” Stier said. “Choose people who will do whatever he wants. no matter what. as opposed to choosing people who will stand up for the Constitution. the rule of law. and be capable of running these very important. complex organizations that have had huge impact on the American public.”.

This story has been updated.

Donald Trump Bill Pulte acting officials Senate confirmations intelligence community Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 Partnership for Public Service Max Stier Aaron Lukas Henry Kerner Federal Election Commission