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There are only two elected officials in the entire Executive Branch.

As it should be, a political executive branch is not a democracy it’s a monarchy

a "monarchy" with checks and balances

>. Article II, Section 2 empowers the President to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the principal officers of the United States, as well as some subordinate officers .

Yes, there is a process: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44083/6

yes... and apointees usually need to have or undergo clearance. It is also a tradition to get Senate's approval. Those are the good faith checks and balances.

in case you're wondering the important part is:

> ...without any checks and balances

i.e. what they're doing is completely insecure and exposing incredibly sensitive data.