Trump Is Creating A Lot Of Jobs — For His Favorite Cabinet Members

Some Trump officials are filling two, three, even four roles simultaneously. The personnel practice "just makes no sense," says a White House expert.

If you’re loyal to President Donald Trump and his democracy-testing agenda, then you just might land a job in the Trump administration. But if you’re extremely loyal, then you might land three or even four.

Last week, the president tapped Secretary of State Marco Rubio to serve at least temporarily as his new national security adviser, after exiling Mike Waltz of Signal-gate fame to New York City as his new ambassador to the United Nations, pending Senate confirmation. Rubio will remain in his full-time, Senate-confirmed role as the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser while also managing our national security.

But Rubio also has two other side gigs, at least on paper. Trump has installed him atop the National Archives and Records Administration after ousting the chief archivist, and also put him in charge of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the foreign aid agency Trump has tried to unilaterally dismantle.

Rubio’s four-position portfolio is just the most high-profile example of job juggling within the administration. Several other officials also have been plucked for multiple roles, raising the question of how they could possibly run different departments simultaneously. Heading up just one federal agency is a massive undertaking.

“They’re leaders of very large organizations. They have management challenges, operational issues and a mission they need to meet,” said Jenny Mattingley, head of government affairs at the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. “When you have multiple hats on, how do you lead one [agency], let alone three or four? It becomes a real challenge.”