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President-elect Trump has asked roughly 50 senior Obama administration appointees to remain in their posts after his inauguration to ensure continuity in government, his incoming White House press secretary said Thursday.
The officials include the highest-ranking career officials at key national security agencies like the Pentagon and State Department.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and America's third-ranking diplomat, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon, will serve as acting chiefs of their agencies until successors for the top jobs are confirmed by the Senate, Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Thursday's announcement comes after weeks of questions about how Trump's team is managing the presidential transition, although it may not address broader concerns about what officials at many federal agencies have said is a lack of communication with the incoming team.
In interim charge: Sean Spicer, the Trump transition spokesman, said that the Pentagon would bein the hands of its current deputy until James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, the retired Marine general, was confirmed
Also in the Senate's hands: Rex Tillerson will have to wait for a confirmation vote to take charge of the State Department, Until then the existing number three is running foreign relations
Such concerns are natural in presidential transitions. But the confusion among officials at national security agencies could have consequences, given their international engagements. The rest of the world doesn't pause while Washington determines its chains of command.
Work will likely helm the Defense Department for only a matter of hours. Trump's selection for the Pentagon, retired Gen. James Mattis, is expected to be confirmed on Friday shortly after the inauguration ceremony, along with retired Gen. John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security.
Senate debate on Trump's choice for CIA boss, former Rep. Mike Pompeo, is expected to start Friday. It is unclear if Pompeo will receive an immediate confirmation vote.
At the State Department, Shannon will be in charge until at least until next week as a Senate vote on Trump's choice for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, isn't expected until Monday or Tuesday.
