Amid the news that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was considering firing embattled FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe ahead of a planned retirement, additional reports indicated that the former Alabama senator’s own precarious position in the White House was in danger of meeting a fate not unlike Rex Tillerson, the recently axed state secretary. According to Vanity Fair, two Republican officials with knowledge of the matter claimed President Trump “has discussed a plan to fire” Sessions and “replace” him with Scott Pruitt, who is currently serving as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
It seems to be a part of the president’s sudden realization that, per another former White House official, “he is the president” and no one else is. “He’s just making these decisions on his own,” they told Vanity Fair. According to other administration officials who spoke to CNN, it’s all a part of Trump’s newfound desire to trim the “deadweight” from his cabinet since they have “fallen well short of his expectations.” Aside from Sessions, who has been a thorn in Trump’s side ever since he recused himself from all things Russia, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are also in the president’s sights for various reasons.
Accusations of altering an email to cover travel expenses for a personal trip, a $31,000 custom dining set, and a disastrous 60 Minutes interview have all been plaguing Trump’s estimations of Shulkin, Carson, and DeVos respectively. Meanwhile, whether or not he cares for the fact that Pruitt, his potential replacement for Sessions should he decide to fire him, once declared he “would be more abusive to the Constitution” than President Obama remains to be seen.
(Via CNN and Vanity Fair)