After a long career in gummint, some of it at the Secretary staff level, I have come to expect that almost everyone getting top Federal administrator positions have no relevant professional qualifications for their job, just a "wealth of experience" climbing the greasy pole to the top of the gummint. They are all swamp rats whose experience outside the beltway includes filling up their BMWs at gas stations and shopping at 7-11s in their neighborhoods. People with expertise are not encouraged to apply -- it upsets the apple cart -- and they can always be passed over for lack of "insider smarts". Other levels of gummint I don't know as well, but having interacted with many of them, it's probably the same.