Statecraft

Heavy lifting ahead as Trump builds national security team from ground up

Donald Trump's Cabinet-level choices have the nation's attention, but the president-elect must fill roughly 1,100 other administration posts that also require Senate confirmation - and none are more important than those involving national security.

The high-profile picks offer hints about how Trump might govern, but his transition team's toughest task could be hastily vetting the vast national security team that will serve under his Department of Homeland Security secretary, a post that has not yet been filled.

“It’s the largest, most complex operation on the planet,” said Max Stier, founding president of the Partnership for Public Service, the nonprofit, nonpartisan group that started the Center for Presidential Transition.