THE Palacios-Apatang administration is putting its Cabinet selection on hold as it continues to assess the CNMI government’s financial condition.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios said he had yet to select his chief of staff and the legal counsel, but was hoping to appoint permanent Cabinet members this week.
“I wish I could tell you that everything is ready to go and the Senate is ready to do hearings, but with this situation that we’re in, I think that kind of took the second priority at this point in time because I want to make sure that this government continues to function and provide the public service that it’s expected to provide,” said Palacios said.
“We’re going to get there. Hopefully, a bunch of appointments — permanent appointments — to…the Cabinet members will start coming out by next week,” he said on Wednesday.
He said he had yet to pick his chief of staff because of lack of funding and because they were still assessing the state of the CNMI’s finances.
For his part, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang said, “We want to assure you that we will continue to do our best to come up with additional figures and hopefully validate what we’re giving you guys today… Hopefully, we can come together and put things on the right direction for our people.”
He added, “We care for the people. We didn’t expect to come in and find a situation like this. We want to continue to rebuild trust in this government. That’s what we’re here for. We will try to work hard with our staff, the Legislature, to see what we can do for our community, the Commonwealth. We can’t just sit back and do nothing. That’s our commitment.”
Palacios and Apatang were sworn in on Jan. 9, 2023.
Arnold I. Palacios
