In case my reader has been out of contact with the world today, sort of like me, there’s news that makes it look like the Trump Administration is beginning to, well, fall apart:
President Donald Trump said Thursday on social media he was firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and would name Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her.
Trump thanked Noem for her service, saying in his Truth Social post she “has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!)” and that she “will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.”
He said Mullin would take over the position March 31. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration will work to confirm Mullin “as quickly as possible.” [CNN/Politics]
So many questions, to be sure.
Did Senator Mullin (R-OK) know he was the President’s pick for the open position? Or did this appear on Truth Social and he just had to deal? Did / does he know he can’t be both DHS Secretary and Senator?
But we can more or less guess why he was President Trump’s pick – because he projects toughness. He appears to be a large guy, too. It’s all about Central Casting, isn’t it, and we know it because
The spotlight is now on Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the Oklahoma lawmaker is poised to take over the Department of Homeland Security following Kristi Noem’s controversial tenure and firing on Thursday.
Mullin, 48, has no law enforcement experience but has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration and law enforcement. [ABC News]
The Senator has no applicable experience, but he’s ready to storm into one of the most important law enforcement positions in the country and, well, I hope he runs the agency with discretion and attention to the law, but he’s a Landgrebe nominee and that means both lavish devotion to the President and implies a certain haughty amateurism.
Perhaps Trump considers White House aide Stephen Miller, the anti-immigration voice in the Administration, too short and wimpy for the position. I’m quite serious, too.
According to Ballotpedia, Mullin, is still in the Republican primary for his seat, at least as I write this, and I actually don’t think he’ll drop out. His removal from the Senate is not a critical loss, it just means Thune has a smaller margin, and it may even make certain options easier to if Thune decides to become an independent power. But Mullin can still win his seat and resign from DHS at the end of the current term. But it’s also quite possible he’ll decide to stick with the executive branch. The Oklahoma Senate seat is considered quite safely Republican. I expect the margin this time around won’t be big, but it’ll remain Republican.
Was Noem ready for this? There were rumors that Noem was positioning herself to take the Presidency; I have to assume it’s harder for someone in her new, and quite obscure, position of Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas to try for a coup. But maybe that was only a rumor, as coups can be quite difficult.
Is this the first chunk of many to fall off the Administration? There are many irons in the fire that may blow up in Trump’s face.
- Trump’s War. I’m sure Trump expected it to be over with and tucked away by now. He’s even trying to insert himself into the process of Iran selecting their next leader. But Iran, by which I mean Iran’s government, is still defiant, still firing missiles, and forcing America and its allies to expend missile interceptors in defense, which means our stocks are becoming perilously low. If a story concerning low interceptor stocks gets lose in MAGA-land and weather improves, we could see a MAGA-mob in front of the White House demanding a resignation, a profound humiliation.
- Epstein Files. They are infuriating much of MAGA-land.
- Defense Secretary Hegseth. An incompetent who probably promised Trump a quick victory. Now Trump has casualties, military risk, and political risk.
- The White House Ballroom. Trump’s preoccupation, in the face of war, with his Ballroom is a prime symptom of his disabling dementia. A competent Cabinet would have removed him.
- Commerce Secretary Lutnick. He’s reportedly prominent in the Epstein Files.
- Messaging. Are we at war or just indulging in major combat operations? Trump says the former, his minions claim the latter. Only the Senate can save him, it seems, because the comedians are chortling too much.
- The markets are tumbling. Can Trump afford to completely lose Wall Street?
And so much more; it’s a cataclysmic indictment of amateurism. How much longer before Vance and the Minions act?
