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Trump Staff Picks, Co-Conspirators and the Revolving Door of Departures

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Sausy said:
He DID pick the Inspector General of the Intelligence agencies, Michael Atkinson, who was one of the relatively few non ideological, true career professional appointments. Of course, I don't think Donald Trump is particularly happy now he made the rarest of right choices, but the American people are.
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Setting aside my snark for a moment... :)

One of the successes of the civil service is that it promotes a permanent government that outlasts the whims of elected government and its appointees. The career employees have a perspective about what matters and why a functioning government is important.

When I hear tropes like "Government is the problem", I cringe. I've worked with a lot of government employees over the years. When you get on the phone with civil servants, it's amazing what you find out and what can be done. When you deal with elected officials, it's more likely to be a frustrating experience.

Looking through the posts in this thread... now up to 1300 posts... it becomes apparent that they're picking the worst of the lot from a thin list of people who want to serve in the Trump Administration. And the ultimate failure of so many of these appointees just gives more fodder to their "government is the problem" agenda.

When you read through Atkinson's answers to his nomination questionnaire, it's apparent he's a serious person with a serious career. Thankfully, there are a lot of these civil servants in the permanent government.
 
It definitely ISN'T the career people who are the problem. It's the attitude of Trump and the people he puts into so many key positions who have been corrupt or have deep conflicts of interest... a good number of the domestic agency choices not only corrupt with conflicts of interest, but ideologically hostile to the missions they are charged with dispensing. So many positions of slightly lower rank are manned by acting directors and management, indeed this Administration came in dispensing with the usual practice of smooth transitions from one administration to the other. There is a war in Trump's Republicanism against the permanent government that is so vital to our agencies and institutions functioning... putting in "acting" leadership, without a stability and endurance to keep things going whether there is a Democrat or Republican in charge in these agencies, weakens us. I agree with KB's post, that whatever the flaws of government, the vast core of those serving their country proudly(and often giving up lucrative careers in private industry) do us proud and work their damnedest to try to make things better. We should be indeed proud of our civil servants and furious at a cynical, amoral, unethical president who is trying to ensure our lack of faith in our government by setting it up for failure from the top.
 
Sausy said:
...So many positions of slightly lower rank are manned by acting directors and management, indeed this Administration came in dispensing with the usual practice of smooth transitions from one administration to the other. There is a war in Trump's Republicanism against the permanent government that is so vital to our agencies and institutions functioning... putting in "acting" leadership, without a stability and endurance to keep things going whether there is a Democrat or Republican in charge in these agencies, weakens us.
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Some of the early articles that came out after the 2017 inauguration (when Bannon was laying out the future with surprising accuracy) stated that Trump and Pence had an agenda to dismantle large sections of "the administrative state" (which the conspiracy minded like to call "the deep state"). Even though very few people expected Trump to win, some of the big donors like the Mercers, Paul Singer, Peter Thiel pushed deregulation and downsizing certain regulatory agencies as a goal tied to their donations.

Small hand of government: Trump's aim to shrink the state pleases conservatives [The Guardian]

Money man: Reclusive U.S. billionaire Robert Mercer helped Donald Trump win the presidency. But what is his ultimate goal? [CBC]

Steve Bannon is reportedly going ‘off the chain’ to destroy hedge fund giant Paul Singer [CNBC]

Even the Trump Transition Team Knew Some Appointees Were Bad Hires: Report [New York Magazine]
 
Not sure how I missed this scumbag's appointment...

Tony Perkins Elected Chair of Bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

or to put it another way...

This Far-Right Activist Will Now Lead a Major U.S. Religious Freedom Body [New York Magazine]
One of the most vitriolic anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim activists in the U.S. will now lead the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Tony Perkins, who was first named to USCIRF by Senator Mitch McConnell in 2018, will head the group for a year. Perkins is also the president of the Family Research Council, a far-right organization that lobbied against marriage equality and continues to work against anti-discrimination laws that cover LGBT people.
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Another Acting gets the ax. He wasn't cruel enough.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan leaving administration [Politico]
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan is leaving the administration, President Donald Trump and McAleenan tweeted Friday evening...

McAleenan's departure comes amid a rolling leadership shake-up at the department. Six other top department officials have resigned or been pushed out since April, including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

McAleenan — who held the role after Nielsen’s departure — oversaw a recent reduction in the number of migrants caught at the southwest border, a measure used to estimate illegal crossings. Still, he faced criticism from Trump allies inside and outside the administration, who argued he was not sufficiently committed to the president’s immigration agenda.
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Mike Pompeo's senior adviser resigns [CNN]
A senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resigned, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday.

The adviser, Michael McKinley, had been a diplomat for over three decades and served as ambassador to Peru, Colombia, Afghanistan and, most recently, Brazil until he was appointed to his advising role in May 2018, according to his department biography...

The Post also reported that while McKinley was not working directly on Ukraine policy, he disapproved of what he saw as Pompeo's insufficient public support for department officials implicated in Trump's dealings with Ukraine and subsequently called to testify in House Democrats' investigation.
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Now that Rick Perry has made it official.
 
A senior adviser to Mike Pompeo just resigned. Now he's testifying in the impeachment probe ... and testify he does ...

Ex-Pompeo adviser tells Congress he resigned over Trump's attacks on Yovanovitch [Politico]
A former top adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told House impeachment investigators on Wednesday that he abruptly resigned last week because of President Donald Trump’s attacks on the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and the State Department’s unwillingness to protect career diplomats from politically motivated pressure, according to people familiar with the testimony.

Michael McKinley, a career foreign service officer with nearly 40 years of experience, had a front-row seat to Pompeo’s decision-making at the State Department. And like other current and former officials who have testified for the House’s impeachment inquiry, McKinley told investigators he was deeply alarmed by efforts by Trump and his allies to pressure Ukraine to investigate the president’s political rivals.

According to a former colleague familiar with his testimony, McKinley attributed his resignation to “what appears to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas to advance domestic political objectives.”
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Next up in investigations...

A Jacuzzi, Chef’s Kitchen, and a Pergola: Trump’s Embattled E.U. Envoy Oversees Lavish Renovations to Brussels Residence [Vanity Fair]
State Department contracts reveal that Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s embassy has been awarded more than half a million dollars for extravagances like a pool-Jacuzzi heating system. “You don’t get to just renovate the kitchen on taxpayer dollars,” said one former ambassador. “It is a lot of money.”

While the Ukraine scandal has thrown a harsh light on the bipartisan tradition of rewarding top campaign donors with ambassadorships, in the case of Gordon Sondland, it has also brought unwanted scrutiny to the hotelier’s fondness for sumptuous interiors. Ordinarily, the position of U.S. ambassador to the European Union is among the more technocratic postings available inside the State Department, encompassing a Brussels office staffed by bookish diplomats with expertise on issues like data privacy and energy security. Sondland, who donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, was also interested in the drapes....

A sampling of State Department contracts reveals that since September 2018—just a few months after Sondland’s Senate confirmation—the embassy in Brussels has been awarded $95,109 for a pergola, $13,301 for a pool-Jacuzzi heating system, $33,625 on wooden household furniture, $208,683 on a professional kitchen remodel, and two bathroom renovations, one costing $53,809 and the other $82,354. Additionally, the State Department spent $103,748 on a hotel, to ostensibly serve as an alternate residence to the embassy while the building undergoes renovations for months of September and October of this year.
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Kulindahr said:
Well of course, that's part of the Dominionist agenda -- only married hetero male Christians count as first-class citizens.
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^Amended. :)
 
Next!


Trump to nominate Dan Brouillette as Energy Secretary [Politico]
President Donald Trump said on Friday he will nominate Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to replace Rick Perry in the agency's top job.

Brouillette's appointment follows the same model that put Andrew Wheeler at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency and David Bernhardt atop the Interior Department: All held the No. 2 positions at their agencies, had years of experience in Washington and advanced with the departures of more flamboyant predecessors.
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Even the bottom of the barrel can't produce anyone for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. :##:

Trump's top picks for Homeland Security chief are ineligible for job: reports [The Hill]
The White House personnel office has told President Trump his rumored top picks to fill the Homeland Security secretary position are ineligible by federal law, according to reports in Politico and The Wall Street Journal.

Immigration officials Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan are widely perceived as the president's favorite candidates to become head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but neither has been confirmed by the Senate in their current DHS positions.
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Cruella DeVos must be having a fit about this.

Top DeVos aide quits for Senate bid, endorses canceling student loan debt [Politico]
A high-ranking Trump administration student loan official resigned Thursday to launch a long-shot bid for an open Senate seat in Georgia centered on his sweeping plan to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt.

A. Wayne Johnson, who was appointed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and oversaw the Education Department’s $1.4 trillion student loan portfolio, said he believes there are “fundamental flaws” in the nation’s student loan system that require drastic changes. Even though Johnson is running for the Senate seat as a Republican, his student debt relief plan is far more generous than those of several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, whose ideas DeVos recently attacked as "crazy." ...

Johnson, a longtime financial services industry executive before joining the administration in 2017, is proposing to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for each student — and provide up to $50,000 in tax credits for Americans who already paid off their student loans. He also wants to replace federal student loans with a $50,000 grant that students could use to enroll at public or private colleges as well as vocational schools.
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