RELATED January 26, 2023 The Pace of Appointments and Confirmations to Senate-confirmed Positions During a President’s First Two Years January 18, 2023 Advice to Incoming Agency Leaders From Those Who Have Been There November 02, 2022 White House Guidance to Agencies Why is it so hard for Joe Biden to hire people? March 25, 2021 By March 24th, two months into his administration, President Biden had obtained the confirmation of just 27 people. That puts him slightly ahead of where Donald Trump was at this point, but behind Barack Obama. America has far more political appointees in its federal government, some 4,000 in all, than any other developed democracy, according to David Lewis, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University. No one ever really stops to wonder whether, if so many roles can sit empty, all these jobs are needed in the first place. The Economist