Contact Jordan LaPier Director (202) 495-3320 jlapier@ourpublicservice.org Confirmation Backlog Leaves Biden’s State Department Badly Understaffed October 26, 2021 “It is undoubtedly diminishing the capability of our State Department, and therefore, our country’s national security,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit good government organization that tracks the nomination process closely. “It’s a big deal. And that’s not to diminish the acting officials in jobs across the State Department. They are great people, but they’re not set up for success.”