Vacancies Act
Definition
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 sets the rules for who can temporarily fill a vacant Senate-confirmed executive branch position and for how long, generally 210 days, without going through Senate confirmation. It is meant to prevent presidents from running agencies indefinitely through unconfirmed acting officials.
Why it matters
Because acting officials never face a confirmation hearing or Senate vote, the Vacancies Act's time limits and eligibility rules are the main guardrail against a president bypassing Senate advice and consent altogether. Administrations have repeatedly tested those limits by creating new deputy titles or leaving positions vacant for extended stretches, prompting lawsuits over whether specific acting appointments were even legal.
Seen in the wild
A federal judge ruled in March 2020 that Ken Cuccinelli's 2019 appointment as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was illegal, because the Trump administration created a new "principal deputy director" role for him that did not qualify as the "first assistant" required under the Vacancies Act.1