Justice’s No. 3 Slot Is Soon to be Vacant — Once Again (1)

The Justice Department is on track to get a new deputy attorney general by the time Rod Rosenstein leaves the post May 11 as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to vote on his successor, Jeffrey Rosen.

Filling the agency’s No. 3 slot is another matter entirely.

Since February 2012, Senate-confirmed officials have collectively held the associate attorney general position for about 22 months, or roughly 26 percent of the time. Officials serving in an “acting,” or non-confirmed, capacity occupied the office for the remainder of the more than six-year period.

President Trump’s only Senate-confirmed associate attorney general, Rachel Brand, left ...