The Vacancies Act lays out a somewhat complicated system for filling vacancies. First, it requires that PAS roles only be filled by their top deputies, other top officials in their agency, or another Senate-confirmed official. Pulte is a Senate-confirmed official.
But there are also time limits. An acting official can only serve for 210 days after a vacancy occurs. If the president nominates a permanent replacement, that 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 The president gets another 210-day period for an acting official if the first nomination fails or is withdrawn.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 they don’t get a third.
Presidents of both parties have routinely violated this law, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Trump has left roles unfilled rather than nominate permanent picks
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was already busy with Trump’s trade war when he was also tasked to lead the Office of Government Ethics, which is supposed to guard against conflicts of interest in the government, and the Office of Special Counsel, which plays an important role aiding government whistleblowers.
The law that set up the DNI role, for instance, requires that anyone nominated “shall have extensive national security expertise.” When the announcement was made, Pulte did not even have a security clearance, although he also has not been nominated for the permanent role. But another part of the law stipulates that if a vacancy occurs, the principal deputy director of national intelligence “shall act for” the DNI during a vacancy. The current principal deputy director of national intelligence is an experienced former CIA officer named Aaron Lukas.
But there’s another law at play here.
The Federal Vacancies Act of 1998 was passed on a bipartisan basis to clip President Bill Clinton’s ability to avoid seeking lawmakers’ blessing for key political appointments that require Senate approval. The Washington shorthand for these jobs is PAS.
The Vacancies Act lays out a somewhat complicated system for filling vacancies. First, it requires that PAS roles only be filled by their top deputies, other top officials in their agency, or another Senate-confirmed official. Pulte is a Senate-confirmed official.
