Trump allies worry new Cabinet-level vacancies will go unfilled for months

Source: Washington Examiner | October 8, 2017 | Gabby Morrongiello

Some of President Trump’s staunchest allies have lost confidence in the administration’s ability to fill several high-level vacancies that remain within the government, already casting doubt on whether the White House will decide on replacements for Tom Price at Health and Human Services and John Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security by the end of the year.

Price resigned last month after his penchant for taxpayer-funded private planes over commercial flights was revealed in a series of reports. Last week, the Senate confirmed Eric Hargan, a former HHS appointee under President Bush, to be deputy secretary of the agency in a 57-38 vote.

Hargan will serve at the helm of the agency while White House officials search for a permanent successor to Price.

The former Georgia congressman’s resignation came months after Kelly left DHS to join the West Wing as Trump’s chief of staff. A source close to the agency said it is unlikely the White House will permanently elevate acting DHS secretary Elaine Duke to the position, despite the praise Trump has heaped on her after the recent hurricanes.

Administration officials are “nowhere closer to finding a replacement than they were last month or [in] August,” the source said. Kelly stepped down from his senior law enforcement position on July 28, giving the administration five months to settle on his replacement before Trump approaches the end of his first year.

A former White House aide said Trump is largely to blame for the delay because he “wants someone along the lines of David Clarke” to occupy the position. Clarke, the controversial ex-sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wis., recently took a job at the pro-Trump outside group America First Action.

Supporters of the president, who said it could take months for the White House to decide on nominees for HHS and DHS, pointed to myriad other positions that remain vacant or were just recently filled nearly nine months into Trump’s first term.

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