Still no defense secretary? That’s a scandal.

[BloombergOpinion]( [Early Returns]( [Jonathan Bernstein]( We’ve hit another milestone in irresponsible government: May 1 marks four full months during which the U.S. has had only an acting secretary of defense, with no one nominated for the formal position. The previous record was one day. It’s a disgrace. Or, rather, going three weeks with only an acting secretary of homeland security – as Donald Trump’s administration is also currently doing – is a disgrace. We’ve gone way beyond that at the Pentagon. But instead of talking about Trump, this time, let’s focus on the other people responsible: members of the U.S. Congress. After all, the confirmation process is one of the main ways that the Constitution empowers Congress to exert influence over the executive branch. By allowing Trump to eschew this process, the Senate is surrendering its own power. Both chambers should care about how the Defense Department is run in any event, and they know (or ought to know) that it can’t function smoothly without a confirmed secretary. I won’t give Democrats a pass on this one. They haven’t made much of a fuss about the continuing vacancies, and House Democrats haven’t taken any meaningful action on the matter. But Senate Republicans are most at fault. They’re the ones with the responsibility (since they have a majority) and the leverage. And while they’ve spoken up at times, they haven’t forced the issue. They should. The scandal-plagued president badly needs Republican senators to defend him, on everything from fighting House subpoenas to keeping his financial records secret to spinning the special counsel’s report. If Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened to withhold some of that support until Trump nominated secretaries for both the Defense Department and Homeland Security, you can be sure that the president would get it done promptly. And where is Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe? His committee is the one that’s being undercut, after all, and he too could do something about it. I don’t expect most Senate Republicans to shut down judicial confirmations until Trump selects a nominee; that would be counterproductive, because most of them probably care a lot more about judges than Trump does. But Inhofe is supposed to oversee the Pentagon and should care about his own jurisdiction. He and the other 13 Republicans on the committee could threaten to oppose cloture on all judicial nominations until Trump sends up a suitable nominee. At which point McConnell would almost certainly be forced to threaten Trump (see above), given that all McConnell seems to really want out of this session of Congress is to confirm some more conservative judges. There are signs that Trump may finally [send up Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan as a nominee](; I don’t know what discussions are going on behind the scenes. But in assessing the behavior of Inhofe, McConnell and other Senate Republicans, it doesn’t matter: They should’ve insisted on resolving this three months ago, when a nominee was already way overdue. 1. Julia Azari at Mischiefs of Faction on [Joe Biden’s announcement message](. 2. Dan Drezner on China’s [Belt and Road initiative](. 3. Caroline Kitchener on [gender equality (or lack thereof) among top congressional staffers](. Pretty big party split here, as one might’ve guessed. 4. Dean Baker on [making single-payer health care work financially](. 5. Greg Sargent on [Trump’s make-believe, bread-and-circuses cruelty](. 6. And my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Timothy L. O'Brien on Trump’s latest attempt to prevent the public from [learning about his finances](. Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. [Click here to subscribe](hash=b9b2681361bede0e1069ca238efb1ec2). Also subscribe to [Bloomberg All Access]( and get much, much more. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close. Bloomberg L.P. ● 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Web]( ● [Facebook]( ● [Twitter]( [Feedback]( ● [Unsubscribe](