The president has the authority to place individuals in key roles as “acting” officials while they await Senate confirmation, in order not to leave important roles vacant for too long. These appointees can begin performing their duties immediately, even though they haven’t been confirmed by the Senate. By doing this, the president can bypass delays in the confirmation process to ensure that leadership positions in the State Department are filled with people loyal to the administration’s agenda. This puts pressure on the Senate to act, because if appointees are already in the role, the Senate may feel compelled to either confirm them or block them through a formal vote sooner, and may even be reluctant to oust someone who is already serving. Skinner is arguing that this practice should be the norm.

Full contextual analysis of Section 2.3: Department of State here.