A stack of employment offer letters is expected to go out Monday to political appointees in the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter, with just two weeks to go before the inauguration.
The Trump transition had set a goal of bringing on as many as 2,000 political appointees on Jan. 20, Day One of the administration, but it’s falling short of that target, two sources told CBS News. About 4,000 political appointees serve across the federal government currently.
Around 1,200 political appointees were in place when Trump assumed the presidency in January 2017, aides estimated. President Biden’s transition chair Ted Kaufman said in 2021 his administration had 1,136 political appointees on Inauguration Day.
Sources told CBS News that candidates for senior management posts want to give their private sector companies two weeks’ notice before they leave for government service. Some are reluctant to resign their current roles without hiring letters from the transition.
Hiring and vetting staffers is a big lift for any incoming administration. Trump has warned against bringing in anyone who might subvert his agenda and was highly involved in selecting his Cabinet-designees and several top management posts. But he has left the decisions about the bulk of staffing for mid- and lower-level positions to those on his team who will lead departments and agencies.
“Let me be clear: anyone working under President Trump in the NSC will be fully aligned with his America First agenda,” incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz posted Monday on X.
A serious matter of debate in the MAGA movement in recent days has been about filling Trump jobs with establishment Republicans, conservative insiders said.
Waltz’s response addressed Trump veteran Joshua Steinman’s post on X on Sunday expressing concern about national security hiring.
“Many who have gotten the nod are great. But a significant number of as-yet-unannounced staff have long histories of being vocally ‘never Trump,’ and working for prominent figures who have repeatedly undermined the President,” wrote Steinman, who was the National Security Council senior director for cyber during the first Trump administration.
Another factor affecting the speed of hiring is the number of candidates being considered for the same Senate-confirmed post or other senior-level jobs. And Trump applicants have been going through a multi-step process, with an initial review of their background, followed by interviews with subject-matter experts and an interview with the person who will lead their department, sources said.
Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks are scheduled to begin next week.
Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CBS News, “President Trump picked a brilliant Cabinet in record and historic time and the Trump-Vance Transition is working non-stop to fill the Administration with hard workers who believe fully in the America First Agenda.”
