REVEALED: Biden has only filled 112 of 779 Senate-approved government positions - and is struggling to get key picks such his ATF head David Chipman and two border chiefs confirmed

Joe Biden has only successfully been able to get through 112 of the 799 nominees that require Senate confirmation and are being tracked – as some agencies are operating without key leadership.

Of the total 1,237 nominations that require Senate confirmation, the Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service is tracking 799 government positions.

Within that subset, Biden has only nominated 323 people to fill these key roles more than six months into his presidency.

While 112 have been confirmed by the Senate, 188 are still under consideration and another 23 are awaiting formal nomination from Biden to the upper chamber of Congress.

Biden has yet to nominate another 253 of the Senate confirmable posts and the tracker has identified 223 appointees who are already serving in a position that has a set term or otherwise were held over from previous administrations.

While Republicans will start to question why Biden hasn't sent more picks to the Senate, the administration will argue there is little point when there is already a backlog of appointees waiting on confirmation.

Of the 799 government posts being tracked, Biden has yet to clear 464 nominees.

Every administration has to fill around 4,000 political positions, including the more than 1,200 that require confirmation from the Senate – a feat sometimes impossible, especially when split so closely like the current 50-50 divide.

Joe Biden has only been able to get 112 nominees confirmed by the Senate, according to a tracking of 799 Senate-confirmable presidential picks. The president leave church in Wilmington, Delaware on August 7, 2021

Both Biden's picks to head Customs and Border Protection (Chris Magnus on left) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ed Gonzalez right) are being held up in the midst of a prevailing migration crisis

Republicans are also holding up Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pick David Chipman due to his years of gun control advocacy

Some lawmakers end up holding up nominations based on issues they feel strongly about.

For example, Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been holding up State Department diplomatic nominees in opposition to Biden's stance on a Russian-German natural gas pipeline: Nord Stream 2.

Cruz said last month: 'I look forward to lifting the holds just as soon as they impose the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 that are required by federal law.'

When it comes to the Department of State there are still dozens of people between the nomination and confirmation process. Some posts being held up by Cruz include ambassadorships for NATO, Germany, India, Turkey, and Vietnam.

Republicans are also trying to obstruct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pick David Chipman due to his career in gun control activism. During a heated confirmation hearing this summer, Chipman was excoriated by Republicans over his definition of assault weapon and his push to get them banned.

Also awaiting confirmation are two essential immigration enforcement posts.

Biden nominated Ed Gonzalez to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Chris Magnus to head up Customs and Border Enforcement commissioner in the midst of a prevailing and growing migration crisis at the southern border.

The president announced April 27 his ICE pick and on August 4, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported out his nomination for a full floor vote in the Senate.

Senator Ted Cruz is holding up a series of State Department nominees, including German Ambassador pick Amy Gutmann (pictured center), over his opposition to Biden's stance on the Russian-German natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2

On April 12, Biden announced Magnus as his pick to head CBP and on May 12 he was referred to the Finance Committee for a hearing. No other movement has been reported.

If even one lawmaker opposes a nominee, they could prevent a full floor vote because the Senate cannot schedule the vote without unanimous consent.

In order to successfully overcome the filibuster that would ensure, the Senate must 'invoke cloture' to limit debate and proceed to the floor vote. As of 2013, this step only requires support from a simple majority, meaning 51 senators, except for in cases of a Supreme Court nominee. Before that point, however, at least 60 of the 100 senators needed to agree to break the filibuster on a nominee.

Long wait times, the Post notes, are also a contributing factor to what discourages some qualified people from wanting to serve in a Senate-confirmable position.

According to the tracking, nominees during the Reagan administration waited an average of 56 days to be fully confirmed, but that figure doubled to 112 days under Barack Obama and 117 under Donald Trump.

By this point in Obama's administration, he was able to get 293 confirmed, a feat made possible by the fact that Democrats had a 'supermajority' in the Senate with a filibuster-proof 60-40 majority.

This was the first time the federal government had a Democratic trifecta since 1993.

Of Biden's 23 Senate-confirmable Cabinet positions, 22 have already made it through the entire process. Previous pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden , was withdrawn after controversy over previous tweets. Currently serving as acting Director is Shalanda Young

At this point in August 2001, 283 nominees were confirmed under George W. Bush and by six months into Trump's presidency in 2017 he was able to get just 116 confirmed – just four more than Biden.

Of the 23 Cabinet positions, which need to be confirmed by the Senate, 22 have made it through.

The only remaining open spot is the director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is being led currently by Acting Director Shalanda Young. Biden withdrew his original nomination of Neera Tanden on March 2 after her hearing before the Budget Committee on February 10.

Tanden faced bipartisan opposition from senators because of past, highly partisan comments she made on Twitter, including calling centrist Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine 'the worst' and saying Texas Senator Ted Cruz was a heartless 'vampire'.