Infographic: We the (Unconfirmed) People

Twenty-one percent.

That’s how many of President Obama’s nominees for government posts have been confirmed during the first session of the 113^th Congress, according to data recently published by the Congressional Record. The numbers come as the administration and members of Congress grumble about the growing number of vacancies in key positions.

Many positions within the national security apparatus, including at the State and Defense departments, remain unfilled, as Foreign Policy magazine recently reported.  The Army and the Air Force, meanwhile, each have more than 2,000 nominees waiting, the data show.

To put it in perspective, at a parallel point in time during the Bush administration, 27,686 nominees had been submitted, of which 25,942 had been confirmed. That’s nearly 94 percent, for those who are counting.