It should be one point on which every American agrees.
Amid a national crisis, the President of the United States is entitled to have a senior team in place to lead a response. But the confirmation process for cabinet secretaries and other senior political appointees is a mess. It resulted in our government being unprepared and understaffed in the wake of both 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, and now we’re running the same risk amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem is complicated. Some of it stems from obstruction from minority party senators putting holds on nominees or just reflexively voting against them (Sen. Josh Hawley, for example, has voted against every Biden cabinet nominee). Sometimes new administrations aren’t properly prepared. And even in the best of times, executive branch appointees are subjected to a burdensome and drawn out compliance and confirmation process.
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