Trumps Not Getting His Transition in Gear

At least every eight years, the whole administrative apparatus of the United States goes into transition after a new president has been elected. This process is already set into motion before the new president is inaugurated. After the first 100 days in office most presidents will have managed to have around 24.4 percent of their critical positions staffed. This just goes to show what a huge and slow-paced task this is.

The White House Transition Project (WHTP) follows up on this process. For example, it tracks 221 of the most time-sensitive positions that need to be filled by any new president. While the challenge for all new presidents is formidable, some seem to be better at gathering their team in timely fashion. The nonpartisan WHTP concludes that Trump is "on a path to fewest nominations, fewest confirmations in 50 years."

As our infographic shows, Trump's direct predecessor, Barack Obama, had 52 of his nominations approved by the senate in his first 100 days in office. This is more than twice as many compared to Trump's 23 nominations that got Senate approval so far. Overall, Obama had more own nominees passed than Trump has own nominees and positions already occupied when he came into office (25). Often, those positons have fixed terms, like the Director of FBI who stays put for 10 years.

(This is an updated chart and article first published April 18, 2017).