most senior

Trump also announced his backing for Dr Janette Nesheiwat as Surgeon General, one of the most senior health positions in the country, and Russell Vought as director of the US Office of Management and Budget which helps decide policy priorities and how they should be funded.

The commission must approve exception appointments at the most senior grade, but below this level departments have a free hand to recruit.

The most senior Hamas leader outside Gaza and other key figures in its negotiating team are no longer in Doha, Qatar’s government and a senior Palestinian official have said.

The Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, the country’s most senior civil servant, had told all ministers they should “not take part in the public debate.”

His nomination for secretary of state - America’s most senior diplomat - Marco Rubio, has described China as the “most advanced adversary America has ever faced”.