The Trump administration has a historically large number of vacancies in Senate-confirmed positions, even as Republicans face the prospect of losing control of the chamber in the midterm elections, prompting frustration among current and former officials who say the White House personnel office has not kept pace.
Unfilled Senate-confirmed positions have reached their highest number since President Ronald Reagan was in office, according to an analysis by the Partnership for Public Service, a government watchdog that tracks presidential appointments, threatening to stall President Donald Trump’s agenda.
A combination of high turnover, slow confirmations and a number of nominations that the administration has been forced to withdraw has “created a situation in which there’s unprecedented levels of vacancies across leadership positions in the federal government,” said Chris Piper, senior manager at the Partnership for Public Service.
This account is based on interviews with 18 administration and White House officials, two former administration officials and five allies close to the White House, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss sensitive internal matters. They painted a picture of a White House that has moved to a new way of handling personnel appointments in its second year, and in doing so, frustrated some members of the administration.
The current approach prioritizes thorough vetting over speed, according to 10 current and former officials, who described a process that has become more rigorous and deliberative, with greater scrutiny intended to identify potential problems before candidates head to the Senate.
“At the beginning, every week was a march to get as many appointees as we could in a record amount of time,” said Trent Morse, the former deputy director of personnel during the transition and the first year of the current Trump administration. “That’s not the responsibility when you’re in that second year.”
“You’re past that start-up phase, and you’re in a maintenance phase,” he said. “The vetting has to be higher and more thorough.” Morse praised personnel director Dan Scavino and his deputy, Morgan Dewitt, for their work and for managing the transition from the first year.
Scavino, who also holds the title of deputy chief of staff and manages much of the president’s social media presence, has publicly acknowledged the challenge of identifying the right candidates, cautioning those offering recommendations for appointments that “your name is 100 percent attached to them.”
Earlier this month, the White House got a reminder of the importance of proper vetting when Trump chose Katie Zacharia as his new White House press secretary. The job is one the personnel office does not handle, and Trump selected her without detailed background checks, according to two people familiar with the matter. Zacharia had a rocky five-day tenure before stepping down amid questions about her legal credentials. At the same time, Trump’s ambassador to Greece was asked to resign amid allegations of misconduct.
“We’ve seen what happens when people don’t follow those standards,” one of the officials said.
Yet eight White House and administration officials and allies close to the White House said they fear the administration is squandering its opportunity to install senior officials at agencies responsible for national security, immigration, economic policy, energy and other priorities while Republicans still control the Senate. Some pointed the finger at the Office of Presidential Personnel, the White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting thousands of political appointees.
One Trump veteran attributed the overall slowdown in nominations in part to heightened caution, saying that officials have been reluctant to take risks in an administration where one staffing choice could put them under a spotlight with outside critics — and ultimately the president himself.
“It is hard work trying to find loyal and talented people,” this person said. “The incentive structure is to never do anything,” the person said. “Imagine you play basketball, but every time you miss a shot, you get benched.”
In response to questions for this article, senior White House and administration officials defended Scavino’s leadership of the personnel office.
“Dan Scavino is one of President Trump’s most loyal, trusted, and longest-serving advisers. He knows the President so well and understands what it takes to succeed working for him,” Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said in a statement. “Having served throughout the first administration, Dan brings unmatched experience, professionalism, and institutional knowledge. He has earned the President’s trust, and he certainly has mine.”
The White House also provided statements from multiple members of Trump’s cabinet praising Scavino and Dewitt for their work ethic and commitment to advancing the president’s agenda.
Pete Meachum, chief of staff at the Department of Transportation, also defended the pace of nominations: “You want people who are mission-aligned, and it’s better to have the right person than the person fast,” he said.
Trump’s first year set an above average pace for Senate-confirmed nominations, as the White House led an intense effort to staff the administration. Trump placed more appointees in political positions than at any point in the last four decades — and filled 452 Senate-confirmed slots in his first year, outpacing his own first-term numbers, according to figures provided by the Partnership for Public Service. There are currently 3,776 political appointees, according to a White House official.
But nominations have plateaued since 2025. This year, just 186 nominees have been put forth as of Oct. 20, with 466 total confirmations. That slowdown came despite a Senate rules change designed to speed votes by confirming nominees “en bloc” that was introduced in September 2025. Just 15 nominees have been confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote this year, compared with 57 percent of civilian nominees during the Biden administration and 65 percent during Trump’s first term.
The packages of votes this year have been few and far between. There were three in the last few months of 2025 alone, compared to only two this year, and this year’s have been smaller. The Senate also has spent fewer days in session this year than during the same period in 2025, which leaves less time for confirmation votes.
The most recent bloc of 74 nominees was confirmed in August, while a group of 49 was confirmed in May. The White House expects to submit another package of nominees in coming weeks, another White House official said.
“We are at 605 nominees,” this person added. “There’s no scenario here where the sky is falling.” Thirty-eight additional nominees are awaiting possible Senate action.
Two hundred forty-nine Senate-confirmed positions still have no nominee, according to the Washington Post’s nomination tracker, while the Partnership for Public Service counts 110 nominees as still unconfirmed.
Some, including Austin Dahmer, who was nominated in 2025 to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, have waited more than a year. Senators from both parties grilled Dahmer during his nomination hearing last year, underscoring the resistance some Trump nominees have faced even from fellow Republicans.
Senior administration officials argued that the personnel office has moved with urgency at critical moments, citing the nomination of Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence, which advanced to a hearing in five days after its announcement, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation in 18 days.
“We were nominated that Thursday, and the paperwork was turned in the following weekend because we had the hearing the following Wednesday,” said Dave Natonski, chief of staff for the Homeland Security secretary. “It was a breakneck process.”
But the administration is running out of time to fill posts if Republicans lose the Senate or their majority shrinks.
Trump has said that he likes to place officials in “acting” roles, saying it allows him to move quickly and offers him more flexibility. Those positions, however, have drawbacks, especially legal limits on the authority of non-confirmed officials.
The delay in confirmations has increased since Trump’s first term, to around 155 days from 105. Piper, of the Partnership for Public Service, said that nominees’ digital footprints and added layers of personal information complicate vetting.
“[This] requires more disclosures, more digging through on the committee side,” Piper said. “So there’s more scrutiny over nominees than there historically was.”
Officials said Dewitt, has taken on the day-to-day operations of the office, with Scavino in frequent communication with agency leaders. DeWitt meets with Trump periodically.
While Dewitt used to work from a West Wing office, she now works in her office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across campus. A White House official said she does that to be closer to her staff.
“President Trump deserves the best and most loyal people serving the American people in his administration,” Danielle Alvarez, a White House spokesperson and senior adviser, said in response to a request for comment.
“Dan Scavino and Morgan Dewitt-Snow are delivering exactly that, ensuring this administration is staffed with exceptional patriots committed to advancing the President’s mission and delivering results for the greatest nation on earth.”
A change in Senate control could further complicate the administration’s efforts to fill empty posts, with nominations between Election Day and the start of the new Congress facing more resistance.
“The lame duck is always really hard when it comes to nominees,” a White House official said. “In the Senate, horse trading reaches its peak in December. … People holding nominees, people blocking nominees. You know how you get those holds lifted—this isn’t always a straightforward process.”
The current pace of confirmations is slow, said Donald Devine, who led President Ronald Reagan’s office of personnel management. ”Certainly, if the Republicans lose the Senate, that’s going to get a lot worse.”
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