COMMENTARY: Room at the inn

Hundreds of vacancies across range of agencies need Senate confirmation, potentially hamstringing Trump’s trade agenda    Despite hand-wringing in the import/export community that the Trump administration will turn back the clock on trade liberalization, don’t expect any concrete action anytime soon beyond bombast from the President himself.
   “Our goal as a nation must be to rely less on imports and more on products made right here in the U.S.A,” Trump said in a speech on Friday at the Boeing Co. plant in Charleston, S.C., where the 787-10 Dreamliner was unveiled.
   The President reiterated that he would reduce regulations and cut taxes to make it easier for companies to produce in the United States, while threatening manufactures with high tariffs on imports if they close American plants in favor of overseas locations. He also said enforcement of trade rules would be stepped up to stop foreign cheating.
   Yes, Trump already pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but executing such a decision only required the stroke of a pen because the deal had not yet been ratified by Congress.
   But blowing up the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many businesses throughout the hemisphere fear will damage their bottom lines, or taking other restrictive measures against imports will take a lot more effort that the administration is not equipped to muster for the time being.
   For one thing, Trump has only nominated 34 people so far for 549 top Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions across government, only 20 of whom have been confirmed, according to the Partnership for Public Service and the Washington Post. Positions waiting for political appointees include deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsels, heads of agencies, and ambassadors. Another 693 mid-management positions need to be filled, as well. All told, there are about 1,200 positions throughout the government that require Senate confirmation.

Many positions remain vacant or are in the hands of acting career officials, who typically feel constrained from initiating new policy without clear direction from political leadership.

   Many positions remain vacant or are in the hands of acting career officials, who typically feel constrained from initiating new policy without clear direction from political leadership.
   Trump has yet to name appointees for many positions at the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, or a commissioner of Customs and Border Protection – all agencies which are crucial to implementing trade regulations.
   Speaking of the USTR, Trump’s nominee to head the agency, Robert Lighthizer, has run into a stumbling block after disclosures that he once represented the government of Brazil 30 years ago in a trade case between Brazilian and U.S. ethanol industries, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
   Under a 1995 law, it is illegal for someone who has represented a foreign government in any trade negotiation to be trade representative or deputy trade representative.
   The Senate Finance Committee is reviewing the lobbying disclosure documents and has yet to set a date for a confirmation hearing.
   The Trump administration’s recent stumbles rolling out a travel ban on refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries highlight the difficulty of implementing campaign positions without a thorough inter-agency process and leaders in key positions.