U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is no longer waiting for U.S. Senate action to beef-up his C-Suite.

Perdue Monday named Mindy Brashears as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Naomi Earp as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, and Scott Hutchins as Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.

“Deputy” positions do not require Senate confirmation so Perdue will be able to put Brashears, Earp, and Hutchins on the payroll immediately.

The three previously had been nominated by President Donald Trump for three of the top 12 jobs reporting to Secretary Perdue. Those three spots require Senate /confirm/iation.

While the Senate Agriculture Committee on a bipartisan basis favorably reported all three nominees, their nominations expired without receiving final Senate  confirmation votes by the end of the 115th Congress in early January.

The president has resubmitted the nominations for the higher ranking positionsto the Senate in the 116th Congress. In the meantime, Perdue has three new deputies in town.

“At USDA, we’ve been engaged in fulfilling our mission without all of our players on the field, so we want to get these strong, qualified leaders in the game,” according to a statement from Perdue.

“I want to thank these three for their patience, as their professional lives have been placed on hold for months during their nomination process. Now, they will get to work right away on behalf of the American people. Nevertheless, I urge the Senate to act on their new nominations as quickly as possible so we can have them in the positions for which they were intended in the first place.”

The three have been re-nominated for more senior roles than the ones Perdue today selected them to fill in their respective mission areas at USDA. Brashears was nominated for Under Secretary for Food Safety; Earp was nominated for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; and Hutchins was nominated for Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.

While in their deputy roles as selected by Perdue, they will not be serving in “acting” capacities for the positions for which they have been nominated. As a result, they will not be able to exercise the functions or powers expressly delegated to the Senate-confirmed positions. As Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, Hutchins will oversee the Office of the Chief Scientist, with Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young continuing to serve as Acting Chief Scientist.

Brashears, Earp, and Hutchins begin working today at USDA.