Do Vacancies Hurt Federal Agency Performance?

• In Event: Vacancies, Delays, and Legislative Constraints in Presidential Appointment

Abstract

Federal agencies are central in policymaking in the United States. However, they suffer under a leadership crisis. Senior agency leadership positions are vacant roughly twenty-five percent of the time. While scholars commonly assume that vacancies in leadership positions have negative consequences for agency performance, proving this effect systematically has proven to be difficult. We use a novel 2020 survey of federal executives working in nearly 250 agencies to evaluate how vacancies impact agency performance and isolate the mechanisms by which performance is influenced. This analysis provides insight into the consequences of a broken presidential appointment process.

Authors

• David E. Lewis, Vanderbilt University

• Christopher Mark Piper, Vanderbilt University