To date, only two nominees have been filled out of the 61 Senate-confirmed positions at the Department of Defense. National security officials warn that delaying the nominee process may bring about certain risks for the administration and civil-military relations, Defense News reports.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was confirmed on Jan. 22, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was confirmed on Feb. 8. Colin Kahl was announced concurrently with Hicks to become undersecretary of defense for policy, but his confirmation is pending. Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla) has said he has “serious concerns with some of the policy positions” of Kahl.

One of the reasons for the lag in nominations can be attributed to the delayed ascertainment, or the confirmation process of Biden’s electoral win.

“Because of the delay in ascertainment and other factors, the FBI was been delayed for over a month in conducting background investigations for our nominees, which is a prerequisite before SASC will full process nominations,” said senior administration official to Defense News.

According to Partnership for Public Service, 58 individuals have been nominated for the roughly 1,250 Senate-confirmed positions as a result of this delay.

Kori Schake, a former national security official who currently works at the American Enterprise Institute highlights risks to of delaying DoD nominees.

“Not having people committed to the president’s priorities making early decisions that will set the tone of the administration, and not having their civilian appointees in place will require them to rely more on military staffs, undercutting the administration’s avowed commitment to rebalance civil-military relations,” said Schake.

Photo by AP/Alex Brandon