Article snippet: The early departure of Defense Secretary MORE, which caught congressional leaders by surprise, adds to a growing number of Cabinet vacancies in the Trump administration as well as a confirmations backlog in the Senate. MORE on Sunday announced he is removing Mattis, who resigned on Thursday, two months earlier than his scheduled departure at the end of February. Also due to depart at year’s end are Interior Secretary MORE. The Senate will have to hold hearings and vote to confirm their replacements, as well as vote on William Barr, whom Trump has appointed to succeed MORE as attorney general, and Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, whom Trump says he plans to nominate to permanently hold the post. The president says he will replace Haley with State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. That means the Senate will be cluttered by five high-profile confirmation fights at the beginning of 2019. A sixth confirmation battle could happen if Trump pushes out Homeland Security Secretary MORE, who has come under fire from the president. Senate Republicans are calling on Trump to replace Mattis with a like-minded candidate, even though Mattis announced Thursday that he was stepping down from the top Pentagon post because of differences with the president over national security policy. “I’d like a Mattis clone. I think we all would,” Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman MORE (R-Wis.) told reporters earlier this week. “Th... Link to the full article to read more