I agree we should hold people accountable for not being active, but I'm not sure what this will accomplish with only a few weeks left in the term. If the President wanted to, he could nominate another SoIA.
I think this is more about sending a message - i.e. you can't do nothing for three months and hang onto your post. If I had run the State Department this way, I would deserve to be run out of town on a rail, no matter how late in the year it was.
(Also, I would note that cabinet officers do not automatically vacate their posts with the start of a new administration, so the impending presidential election doesn't effect the length of Spiral's term.)
