I predicted Mattis would leave earlier than February due to Trump making his life miserable but it looks like President Petty is so peeved about his resignation letter that he's kicking him out early. Not even Meryl Streep could act surprised.

Shock and awe.

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...emy-Awards.jpg

It seems like he got angry after Fox News explained that the resignation letter was very critical of Trump.

You can't quit me, you're fired!

Trump Is Reportedly Considering Firing Mnuchin Over Stock Market Woes

He wanted to fire Fed Chairman Powell, but he can't so Mnuchin looks like a convenient target.

Apparently his efforts to "calm the markets" have either been ineffective or have had the opposite of the intended effect. (I suspect the markets are actually reacting more negatively to Trump's antics than anything Mnuchin did, but of course it can't be Trump's fault, so Mnuchin looks like a convenient scapegoat.)

This little Tweeting-From-Lonelytown hiatus would be a marvelous opportunity to do a study with Donnie. Trump agrees to not tweet a thing, nor call an orphan or world leader... from the opening bell until lunch. The market goes up or stays steady, I'm willing to bet. After his second ice cream and three hours of Fox & Friends, he let's the sugar rush take over and starts tweeting whatever tickle his fancy, as usual.

> I notice red-coat Nancy has a fence around HER house. Dems need to pay for my wall or I will keep the shutdown going forever and ever.

NASDAQ drops 300 points.

On point: https://www.npr.org/2018/12/26/67930...have-endurance

Did he say that? I don't see it on his Twitter. In any case, Pants On Fire!

It was meant as an example of the sort of stream-of-consciousness crap he Tweets.

Poe's law, I guess. Maybe it should be Trump's law. Nothing is too outlandish for it not to be believable that it came from him.

Untrue.

"I apologise, I made a mistake"

Is Fed chief Jerome Powell’s job safe? Yes, 100%, says Trump aide Kevin Hassett.

He's a goner for sure!

Mnuchin is next. Because he is screwing up the stock markets by talking to people like Donny told him to do. Also, the name "Mnuchin" sounds kinda Jewish. So who can trust him, yeah? ;)

Lull him into a false sense of security, before making him sleep with the fishes.

The only question left: how will Trump inform Powell of his demise? Tweet or have some low level aide let him know?

I'm going for broke and saying a tweet from a low-level aide.

He can't actually fire Powell before his current term is over. Just saying. Mnuchin, sure. Powell's position is different.

Maybe so. He does have it in his power to repeatedly, publicly humiliate the man until he does resign.

Really? There's no scenario? Maybe in private...?

Putin: I told you what I was going to do with the piss tape if you gave me any guff about sanctions, Donny.

Trump: I apologize Mr. President, I made a mistake.

;)

Mebbe ... mebbe not.

Forbes had an article abut that a few months ago.

Quote:

Breaking Precedent A common perception, even among Fed experts, is that presidents can’t fire the chair and board of governors once they take office. They’re thought to be like the Supreme Court in that regard, although they don’t serve for life. But that’s not quite correct. The Federal Reserve Act doesn’t explicitly give the U.S. president power to fire the Fed board members. But section 10 has a mysterious little phrase indicating it’s at least possible. “…thereafter each member shall hold office for a term of fourteen years from the expiration of the term of his predecessor, unless sooner removed for cause by the President.” That’s all it says on the subject, as far as I can tell. The Act doesn’t define what the word “cause” would entail. But Congress clearly thought the U.S. president should be able to remove board members before their terms expire, under certain conditions.

There's more. Worth a read, at least.

Making Trump look bad is all the "cause" he would need. Of course, it's not actually the Fed or anyone else making him look bad, he does it all by himself.

Fair enough.

But that wouldn't be outrageous in that situation.

The TL;DR version:

KellyAnne Conway has a picture on her wall of every senior staff member during their swearing-in, including many who aren't there anymore.

The keys to longevity in this regime are "kiss Trump's ass and keep your head down!"

Interesting. IANAL, but I can't imagine there isn't something somewhere in federal law that defines what "cause" means when it comes to federal employees. Because the federal government is a major employer. Would the same definition also apply to the Fed governors?

Out of thirty senior White House officials in the photo twenty are gone.

Definitely "many". Mebbe even 'most'.

Lots of the "very best people" I guess.


Which will work until a scapegoat is needed.

Beats me. Seems like Forbes would have been able to unearth something. But they didn't.

It sure reads like it's the President's call, kinda like Congress getting to decide what constitutes an impeachable offense.

Can't get the page to load. Outdated? Or is it... a conspiracy!

Still works for me.

Works from over here. The upshot is in the final visual aid. Trump started out with 30 senior White House/Administrative staff. Twenty have gone. Of those ten remaining, two are family and three are spin doctors. The only policy maker of note in there is the ever-dangerous Stephen Miller.

Yeah, it's working now. Sad!

Bloomberg politics has a review thinkpiece feat. "all the top officials who have left the Trump administration."

https://twitter.com/bpolitics/status...52180559155201

There was a discussion last week of the people in the photo from the swearing in of aides the first day of the administration. Of the 30 people in that photo, twenty are gone and of the ten remaining two are family and three are spin doctors. Of the remaining five, four are people no one's ever heard of!

The Bloomberg piece allows for people still in place who are already replacements, themselves so actually looks much more favorable. e.g. Bolton shown as an active photo and the person he replaced being a red (no longer there) photo. Since you kinda/sorta have to replace everyone the inauguration day swearing in photo is much more indicative of the MACA (make America chaotic again) mindset.

Found a higher resolution photo from that event.

Attachment 39392

Second row is all but wiped out by now.

Well, we know who is left. Do we want to start a book?

Make sure it has refillable pages.

This Friday when her employees don't get paid would be an ideal moment for Kristjen Nielsen to resign in protest. It might be the one thing she could do at this point to try to rehabilitate herself.

Instead, she's pretty much flat-out lying about border security.

Another one bites the dust
https://www.axios.com/pentagon-chief...0d43811f8.html

Well, you know that Trump 'basically fired' him. ;)

I really don't get her. She is my age, much too soon to retire. Why didn't she get out when the getting was good? She must be smart enough to realize she will be damaged goods when she leaves now.