The second Donald Trump administration will start with fewer key staff in place than when Trump entered the White House for the first time eight years ago, with just a quarter of the political appointments made and ready to go when he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday.
The Independent has learned that only 1,000 people have been hired to fill a fraction of the 4,000 important presidentially appointed roles atop the federal bureaucracy, many of which can be put in place without the need of Senate confirmation. That’s roughly 300 fewer than the number of appointees hired during Trump’s chaotic 2016-2017 transition effort.
