The nominations for executive positions work just like the nominations for judicial positions. That is, the general confirmation process is the same. It takes a long time to get somebody through the process. Right now there are about 90 names or so in the Senate's court. Trump needs to give them another 80 or so. They wouldn't get confirmed any faster if they were submitted today than if they were submitted next month. I watch the stuff every stinking day, monitoring how each nominee moves through each laborious step. They won't do the lieutenants until after the majors, and they won't do the majors until after the colonels. And I can see when they'll be getting around to the lieutenants. (not any time this year). That's fact. Of the 335 to go (not including ones that will need to get redone as people quit), we'll be lucky to get 100 this year. It doesn't really matter whether we have a nominee to be Ambassador to the Congo or not. The Senate won't get to that this year.
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/executive_calendar/xcalv.pdf