Falling Behind on Appointments

According to the Washington Post’s Al Kamen, “President Obama's personnel operation, which got off to a record-breaking start early this year in filling top administration jobs, has stalled a bit in recent months. In fact, it's well behind the pace set by the Bush administration in 2001 for the top 500 or so administration jobs -- and time is quickly running out to close the gap.”

To date, the Senate has confirmed 48 percent of the top 504 positions the Post’s Head Count website is tracking.

Kamen says the reasons for the slow-down vary, including the focus on policy issues, the departure of the head of White House personnel, and the tightened vetting process.

Getting people in place before agency budgets get locked down this fall for fiscal year 2011 will likely be a challenge. This leaves senior career executives in acting roles even longer.