Do The Executive Branch Shuffle.

The responsible element in America’s media - and by this I refer to The New York Times, The Washington Post and television stations like CBS - gives the impression that the White House is in constant chaos, led by a man who is both capricious and undisciplined. They portray him as a man who does not bother to study a brief, who governs on the basis of hunches, guesses and prejudice and, it seems, hires and fires at will without a comprehensible and consistent set of policies.

I have no idea of what it is like to work in the White House these days. I suspect it is difficult but there’s nothing new in that. If the Boss is unpredictable and enjoys confusion and disorder, an employee cannot do right for doing wrong. However, what can be tested is turnover. Has there been a lot of hiring and firing in the executive branch during the past 15 months? What follows is a quantitative analysis.

Let’s look at the Trump cabinet:

 ·         The most senior member is Mike Pence, the Vice-President. Trump cannot touch him. Removal is a matter for Congress.

·         Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, was replaced in March, 2018, by former CIA Director, Mike Pompeo.

·         The original Attorney General and Secretaries of the Treasury, Defence, the Interior, Agriculture, Labour (after the nomination of Andy Puzder failed), HUD, Transportation, Energy and Education remain in post.

·         At Health and Human Services, Tom Price was replaced by Alex Azar.

·         In Veteran Affairs, Kirstjen Nielsen replaced John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary when he took over as Chief of Staff.

Clearly, there is no case to support a claim of an avalanche of replacements at this level.

Have other officials at Cabinet-level suffered a different fate?

·         The Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, was replaced by John Kelly.

·         Mike Pompeo left the CIA to take over as Secretary of State and he was replaced by Gina Haspel.

·         The United States Trade Representative, Robert Lightizer, the Director of National Insurance, Dan Coats, the Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the Director of Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, and the Administrator of Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon all remain in post.

 So, where is the upheaval in Trump’s White House?  The list is not comprehensive but departures include:

·         Deputy Chief of Staff, Katie Walsh.

·         Communications Directors, Anthony Scaramucci, Mike Dubke and Hope Hicks.

·         Press Secretary and Communications Director, Sean Spicer.

·         The disgraced Mike Flynn, National Security Advisers, K. T. McFarland, Dina Powell and H R McMaster, deputy National Security Adviser, Rich Higgins, National Security Council member, Sebastian Gorka, adviser on national security issues.

·         Gary Cohn. Trump’s senior economic adviser.

·         Steve Bannon, chief strategist.

·         Omarosa Manigault Newman, Director of Communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison.

·         Keith Schiller, Director of Oval Office Operations.

·         Robert Porter, Staff Secretary.  

This might seem to be a long procession of senior people leaving or being ejected from the White House. However, it is worth remembering that the West Wing and the Old Executive Building is the work place for more than a thousand senior employees. In America, federal government positions are usually a good thing to have on a CV and contacts made can be helpful for future careers but pay is considerably less than the private sector offers. I understand the average time spent working for the federal government is less than four years.

As for the President’s conduct, his modus expellandum might seem harsh but it was former British Prime Minister who said a leader “had to be a good butcher.” When FDR was Governor of New York (1928-1932), he experimented with policies in New York State to alleviate the economic depression there. He was helped hugely by three Columbia University professors, Raymond Moley, Rex Tugwell and Adolph Berle. All three followed FDR to D.C and all three left the White House within a year.

Other Presidents have been involved in high-level dismissals. Truman sacked General MacArthur for insubordination. JFK sacked CIA Director Allen Dulles after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. And Richard Nixon took out the butcher’s knife to remove senior advisers Haldeman, Erlichman and Dean as well as Attorney-General Kliendienst. In the famous Saturday Night Massacre, he also fired the Watergate Special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, as well as the three most senior members of the Justice Department. But looking at the record of the most recent Trump predecessors, Trump has removed more people in 15 months than Obama did in 8 years. Likewise, George W. Bush encouraged loyalty and his firings are far less than Trump’s.

I don’t think the Trump cause is helped by some supporters. For example, the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie acts like a sycophantic spin-man on the President’s behalf. On ABC’s “This Week” last weekend, he said: “The President was ill-served right from the beginning by a group of people who threw all the transition work out, thirty-five 8-inch binders of vetting of over 350 people, that were consistent with his views, that they got rid of, literally threw in the garbage two or three days after the election, started over.” Did Trump clone this man?

Trump’s behaviour has also set the benchmark low on personal finance probity and ethics. Senior officials have taken their cues. Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price, abused air travel rules. Veterans Affairs Secretary, David Shulkin, and others followed suit.  HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, spent $31,000 of taxpayers’ money on a dining room set. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt, is fighting for his job against a barrage of allegations about issues ranging from his first-class travel to reassignment of senior staff who criticized how he was spending taxpayer funds.

This weekend, The Washington Post reported Chief of Staff Kelly saying, “I’m out of here, guys,” which colleagues interpreted as a resignation threat. A senior administration official said Kelly was just venting his anger and leaving work an hour or two early to head home. I’m inclined to believe The Post. Kelly’s role is the most important in the executive after the President and to resign within a year of appointment would send out shock waves.

Since the departures from Trump’s White House are significantly greater than other Presidencies, I have to question why. The litmus test for federal government employment includes strong son is out and Mike Pompeo is in. Post Opinions columnist David Ignatius breaks down the latest shake-up in the Trump administration.(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

ethics, experience, honesty and self-respect. Is there is a case to suggest that public servants, who would otherwise be qualified, do not want to work in this White House? Perhaps they want to avoid any fallout over the administration’s more questionable activities.

Trump and his people assured us during the 2016 campaign that everything would work out because stellar people would be there to help Trump. How can they help a President who appears not to listen and who will plough his own furrow regardless? When one looks at people of quality like Gary Cohn, a respected official who left government because his advice on tariffs was rejected, were the voters mistaken? For me, the answer is clear. However, it is important to remember that every employee of the executive branch serves at the pleasure of the President, to fire as he pleases.