WASHINGTON—President-elect Joe Biden intends to appoint acting agency heads across the federal government once he takes office because of delays to his transition and Senate consideration of his nominees, transition officials said Tuesday.
Mr. Biden’s transition team said career officials would be put in place at most cabinet departments and in some subcabinet agencies following his inauguration next week.
The move will enable Mr. Biden to prevent any of President Trump’s political appointees from staying at the helm of cabinet agencies past Jan. 20, as Senate committees have yet to hold hearings on the president-elect’s nominees, which precede a confirmation vote by the full Senate.
Hearings for only three cabinet nominee—for Treasury Department nominee Janet Yellen, Defense Department pick Lloyd Austin and Homeland Security nominee Alejandro Mayorkas)—have been scheduled so far.
None of Mr. Biden’s nominees, including in key positions overseeing national security, are scheduled to be confirmed next week, after he is sworn-in—requiring the incoming administration to make contingency plans. Mr. Biden has urged the Senate to quickly confirm his nominees for the departments of state, defense, treasury and homeland security, saying “they should be confirmed as close to Jan. 20 as possible.”
