Top Economic Roles Still Vacant

It’s tough enough to fix the economy with a complete team in the White House. It’s even tougher when the president is faced with vacancies in crucial posts. Despite naming Austan Goolsbee as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers this week, and being close to nominating Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor, as director for a new consumer bureau, President Obama is still faced with six vacancies. Congressional brinksmanship is largely to blame for the delays. But with the midterm elections around the corner, it could become increasingly difficult for him to fill those jobs. “What’s different now is the likelihood of a dramatic change in the composition of Congress, and the fact that the Republicans may use each and every one of these to make an economic point,” said one former White House adviser. “It is close to impossible to think that the Senate can take a nomination, hold hearings and confirm the person before the election.”