Failure is never easy. On either end of said
downward track lies disappointment and
often disaster. However there can also be
great benefits to reaching the dead end of
a bad proposition. Especially post trying
to overcome insurmountable obstacles to
no avail. Which is why I can't help but pity
Kirstjen Nielsen. While her actions as head
of Homeland Security were detestable I still
feel sorry for her. She was stuck in a no win
situation. The target of "Presidential abuse."
However unlike the illegal victims under
her care - she was able to find her way out.
Having worked for a megalomaniac myself,
I know what she's been through. I've been
on the wrong end of erratic, early morning
phone calls. Then treated as if I didn't exist.
Try as I might, it was virtually impossible
to make my boss happy. In part because he
didn't know what he wanted. His delusional
sense of pride made any goal a moving and
therefore elusive target. Add the peripheral
advice of a retinue of yes men. Thus just
when you thought you'd finished a job, it
was either irrelevant, misguided, or totally
your fault, not his. So why take the blame?!
Crazy is as crazy does. While some attribute
such a lack of leadership to brilliance, my
experience is that mania is the manifestation
of a sick soul. One which warps it everything
in the lunatics favor. Which means that the
finger is never pointed at the root of all evil.
But at those foolish enough to think they can
manage a nut case. No wonder Kellyanne
Conway's husband George has assumed the
role of amateur shrink. Is he trying to save his
wife from a fate worse than death? The futile
role of consigliere to an egomaniac incapable
of caring for anybody except HIMSELF?!
Thrust into an uncompromising position one has
two choices. Stay and comply. Or exit and avoid
the inevitable. Hero fantasies aside, few if any
can control an untethered lunatic. Within such
untenable circumstances, every one loses in the
process. Their dignity, reputation, and resolve.
So why do seemingly wise folks tread where
they shouldn't? POWER. You see, even if they
were too close to the incendiary bomb, at least
they had their time in the sun. Therefore just
as most have mixed feelings the morning post
a drunken spree, it was a good while it lasted.
Even when one ended up all the worse for it...
One wonders what's next? Where do Donald
Trump's castoffs go from here?! Some ended
up in jail. Others went on to write books. And
some, like wounded beasts crawled into some
distant corner to lick their wounds. But do any
of his rejects hold themselves accountable? Or
are brave enough to speak the truth and reveal
that the emperor truly doesn't have any clothes.
Rather he has if nothing more than a warped
sense of self importance. A capricious need to
control any situation at whim. So rather than
fade into the sunset, isn't it time to shed light
on the real issue? And get rid of our problem?
Following is a recap of exits via cnn.com
Who has left Trump's administration and orbit?
By Jan Diehm, Sam Petulla and Z. Byron Wolf
Updated Sunday, April 7, 2019
President Donald Trump's administration has been marked by a series of exits by high-ranking officials. Here are the most notable ones:
RESIGNED488 days
Kirstjen Nielsen
Secretary of Homeland Security | Trump appointee
Nielsen, who has become a face of President Donald Trump's hardline immigration push, resigned. "Despite our progress in reforming homeland security for a new age, I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside," she wrote in her resignation letter. READ MORE
RESIGNED689 days
Scott Gottlieb
FDA Commissioner | Trump appointee
An administration official familiar with the situation said the move has been in the works for several months. Gottlieb, known for his efforts against teen vaping, has been commuting weekly to Washington from his home in Connecticut and is leaving to spend more time with his family, the official said. READ MORE
RESIGNED246 days
Bill Shine
Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications | Trump White House staffer
Shine, a former Fox News executive, joined the White House in July 2018, the sixth person to fill or be tapped for the top communications role. He stepped down to join the Trump reelection campaign, press secretary Sarah Sanders announced in a statement. READ MORE
RESIGNED672 days
Ryan Zinke
Secretary of Interior | Trump appointee
The subject of multiple ethics investigations and a possible DOJ criminal probe for using his office for personal gain, Zinke resigned rather than be fired in an end-of-year Trump staff shakeup. READ MORE
FIRED712 days
John Kelly
White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer
Kelly began his tenure as Trump's secretary of homeland security, but he was moved to White House chief of staff to bring order to the White House. His relationship with Trump soured, however, and he was ultimately pushed out. Trump announced the move before finding a replacement for Kelly. READ MORE
RESIGNED711 days
James Mattis
Secretary of Defense | Trump appointee
One of the original generals in Trump's Cabinet and inner circle, Mattis resigned in protest to Trump's decision to remove US troops from Syria. READ MORE
RESIGNED706 days
Nikki Haley
US Ambassador to the UN | Trump appointee
President Trump celebrated US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley Oct. 9 in the Oval Office as one of his more popular Cabinet members, in a surprise announcement, said she had resigned and would leave her post by the end of the year. READ MORE
FIRED208 days
Mira Ricardel
Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
A feud with the first lady's office may have cost the senior national security adviser her job after she sparred with East Wing staff and other key members of the Trump administration. The dispute spilled into public view in extraordinary fashion when the first lady's office released a statement calling for Ricardel's ouster as reports surfaced that President Donald Trump would fire the official, deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel. She is expected to take another job in the administration. READ MORE
FIRED639 days
Jeff Sessions
Attorney General | Trump appointee
President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions November 7, one day after the midterm elections. Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said. READ MORE
UNKNOWN636 days
Don McGhan
White House Counsel | Trump White House staffer
President Donald Trump said Aug. 29 that Don McGahn, who had been with the White House since the presidential transition would leave his job as White House counsel following Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, which was made official Oct. 7. READ MORE
RESIGNED533 days
Joe Hagin
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations | Trump White House staffer
Joe Hagin is the White House official who orchestrated logistics for the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A veteran of every Republican administration since President Ronald Reagan, Hagin will return to the private sector. READ MORE
RESIGNED504 days
Scott Pruitt
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator | Trump appointee
An ethics cloud hung over Pruitt for months, as lawmakers from both parties, environmental groups and government watchdogs raised questions about his spending, housing arrangements, security team and raises for political appointees. All told, Pruitt left EPA having faced more than a dozen inquiries or reviews into his practices at the agency, including his first-class plane travel, a room that he rented from a lobbyist at $50 per night and the installation of a soundproof booth in his office. READ MORE
RESIGNED526 days
Tom Homan
Director of ICE | Trump appointee
The polarizing face of the administration's immigration enforcement, and a favorite of President Donald Trump himself, Tom Homan had announced in April he would be taking his long-delayed retirement. Homan has told the story of receiving the request to stay on as chief of ICE under Trump while celebrating at his going away party -- a retirement that was deferred for a year and a half. READ MORE
RESIGNED292 days
Ty Cobb
White House Special Counsel | Trump White House staffer
A source familiar with Cobb's departure said the former federal prosecutor, who joined Trump's legal team in July 2017, had been clashing with the President over Trump's combative posture with the special counsel's investigation. READ MORE
FIRED409 days
Nadia Schadlow
Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy | Trump White House staffer
Schadlow was a principal author of the President's National Security Strategy document. She was expected to resign or be pushed out after President Donald Trump announced John Bolton would become National Security Adviser to Trump. READ MORE
FIRED446 days
Tom Bossert
Homeland Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert was pushed out of his position by the newly installed national security adviser John Bolton READ MORE
FIRED434 days
Michael Anton
National Security Council | Trump White House staffer
Anton was brought into the NSC by Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, who plead guilty to lying to the FBI last year. Anton resigned after learning he would be fired the next day. READ MORE
FIRED411 days
H.R. McMaster
National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
National security adviser H.R. McMaster agreed to resign and be replaced by former US ambassador and Fox News analyst John Bolton. READ MORE
RESIGNED434 days
Hope Hicks
White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer
Hicks, one of Trump's longest-serving and closest aides, resigned in the wake of the scandal involving former senior aide Rob Porter, whose public defense Hicks helped craft while also dating him. READ MORE
FIRED432 days
David Shulkin
Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Trump appointee
Trump once joked that his signature phrase, "you're fired" would never be used with Shulkin, but things soured early this year. Shulkin was the subject of a damning report from the department's inspector general that found the VA leader had spent a good deal of a European trip sightseeing and had inappropriately accepted a gift of Wimbledon tickets. READ MORE
UNKNOWN357 days
Josh Raffel
Deputy Communications Director | Trump White House staffer
Raffel, who was recruited to the White House by Jared Kushner, primarily served as a spokesman for Ivanka Trump and Kushner's White House initiatives, including the Office of American Innovation and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. READ MORE
RESIGNED279 days
John Dowd
Trump's lead lawyer | Trump legal team
Dowd's resignation came as Trump stepped up his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller and days after Dowd said in a statement the investigation should end, initially claiming he was speaking for the President before saying he was only speaking for himself. READ MORE
FIRED406 days
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of State | Trump appointee
The former Exxon CEO was supposed to be a star in Trump's Cabinet, but he and the President never seemed to be on the same page. Tillerson is reported to have referred to Trump as a "moron" during a meeting. Trump tapped CIA Director Mike Pompeo as the next secretary of state. Tillerson said he'll hand over all authority on March 13, but will technically stay in office until March 31. READ MORE
FIRED418 days
John McEntee
Personal aide to the President | Trump White House staffer
McEntee was fired and escorted from the White House. Two sources said McEntee was pushed out because of issues with his security clearance, making him the latest aide to be forced out because of difficulties obtaining a permanent security clearance. Minutes later, McEntee was hired to work on Trump's re-election campaign. READ MORE
RESIGNED414 days
John Feeley
US Ambassador to Panama | Obama appointee
According to an excerpt of his resignation letter that was read to CNN, Feeley's decision was clearly prompted by differences with the Trump administration but was made before the reporting about President Donald Trump's "shithole" comments. READ MORE
RESIGNED411 days
Gary Cohn
Chief Economic Adviser | Trump White House staffer
Cohn left the White House in the wake of his fierce disagreement with the President's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. READ MORE
RESIGNED268 days
Rachel Brand
Associate Attorney General | Trump appointee
A veteran of the George W. Bush administration, Brand's appointment to the number three position at the Justice Department was seen as a solid professional choice. She left for a job in the private sector. READ MORE
RESIGNED285 days
David Sorensen
White House speechwriter | Trump White House staffer
Sorensen resigned after being accused of domestic abuse, which he denied. He exited the same week that top White House staffer Rob Porter also resigned amid domestic abuse allegations. READ MORE
RESIGNED384 days
Rob Porter
White House Staff Secretary | Trump White House staffer
Porter resigned after two ex-wives went public with allegations of past abuse, which he denied. His security clearance had been stalled, although as staff secretary, Porter was one of the gatekeepers to Trump and the Oval Office. READ MORE
RESIGNED215 days
Taylor Weyeneth
Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy | Trump White House staffer
Weyeneth, a 24-year-old former Trump campaign employee, left after a Washington Post investigation found that he had misrepresented his credentials. But weeks later he assumed a new midlevel role at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. READ MORE
RESIGNED209 days
Brenda Fitzgerald
Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Trump appointee
Fitzgerald resigned a day after Politico reported she purchased tobacco stock after she took the position at the nation's top public health agency. READ MORE
FIRED375 days
Andrew McCabe
FBI Deputy Director | Obama appointee
A career FBI agent, McCabe resigned in late January after being a central target of Trump's ire toward the FBI. Various sources described McCabe's departure as a mutual decision, while others said it was the result of pressure to leave. On March 16, Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe over accusations he directed FBI officials to speak to the media about an investigation tied to the Clinton Foundation and misled investigators about his actions. The firing came less than two days before he was set to retire. READ MORE
RESIGNED546 days
Marc Short
Director of Legislative Affairs | Trump White House staffer
Short shepherded Trump's tax cuts to successful passage late last year in what was the high-water mark of his time in the White House. However, Short also led the unsuccessful push to repeal Obamacare, and he helped negotiate a budget deal that Trump nearly refused to sign in the spring. READ MORE
RESIGNED366 days
Omarosa Manigault Newman
Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison | Trump White House staffer
Manigault Newman was one of Trump's most high-profile African-American supporters and a former contestant on "The Apprentice." She was the top communications official at the White House Office of Public Liaison, but when chief of staff John Kelly took over, her role began to feel ill-defined, sources said. She resigned to "pursue other opportunities." READ MORE
RESIGNED354 days
Dina Powell
Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
Powell joined the Trump administration in a senior role focused on entrepreneurship, economic growth and the empowerment of women, and in March 2017 she was named deputy national security adviser. Powell is said to have left the administration on good terms with the President. READ MORE
RESIGNED309 days
Jeremy Katz
Deputy Director at the National Economic Council | Trump White House staffer
Katz was one of the people behind the White House's push to rewrite the tax code. His resignation came after the bill was signed by Trump. READ MORE
UNKNOWN347 days
Rick Dearborn
Deputy White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer
Dearborn, who previously served as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff in the Senate for several years, left the White House in early 2018 to pursue work in the private sector. Dearborn had a wide portfolio in the White House, overseeing its political operation, public outreach and legislative affairs. READ MORE
RESIGNED209 days
George Sifakis
Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison | Trump White House staffer
Sifakis left the administration shortly after former chief of staff Reince Priebus, a close ally and personal friend, made his own exit. READ MORE
RESIGNED232 days
Tom Price
Health and Human Services Secretary | Trump appointee
Price resigned in the midst of a scandal over his use of private planes. He was being investigated by the department's inspector general for private flights that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Price insisted that his trips had been approved. READ MORE
RESIGNED244 days
Keith Schiller
Director of Oval Office Operations | Trump White House staffer
Schiller was a longtime Trump aide and confidant. He's the one who went to the FBI to notify James Comey that he was fired. He told associates in early September that he planned to leave at the end of the month and that the reason was financial. But the move came shortly after Kelly became chief of staff with the mission of instilling new order inside Trump's often chaotic White House. READ MORE
UNKNOWN214 days
Sebastian Gorka
White House deputy assistant | Trump White House staffer
Gorka was one of Trump's most prominent cheerleaders, frequently hitting the airwaves to defend the President's national security policies and public statements. But his role outside of television appearances was unclear. READ MORE
RESIGNED211 days
Carl Icahn
Special Adviser on Regulatory Reform | Adviser
Icahn stepped down in August 2017. He was criticized by Democrats who said his advisory role created a conflict of interest because he had not taken a formal government job and was still running his businesses. READ MORE
FIRED211 days
Steve Bannon
White House Chief Strategist | Trump White House staffer
The President, whose relationship was already souring with Bannon, fired his chief strategist after Bannon was quoted contradicting Trump in American Prospect magazine. Bannon returned to his role as executive chairman of Breitbart News, but lost that position shortly after his incendiary comments about the Trump White House were revealed in Michael Wolff's book 'Fire and Fury.' READ MORE
FIRED195 days
Ezra Cohen-Watnick
Senior Director for Intelligence on the National Security Council | Trump White House staffer
Cohen-Watnick came under scrutiny for his alleged roundabout role in providing incidental foreign surveillance information concerning members of Trump's team to GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Nunes later told CNN that it was definitely not Cohen-Watnick who provided him the information. READ MORE
RESIGNED193 days
George Gigicos
White House Director of Scheduling and Advance | Trump White House staffer
Gigicos said he would return to his consulting business and work for the Trump 2020 campaign. Gigicos was later fired for work on the campaign because of the size of crowds at an Arizona rally in August, 2017. READ MORE
FIRED11 days
Anthony Scaramucci
White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer
"The Mooch" resigned after a profanity-laced interview with The New Yorker. Scaramucci was the third White House communications director to leave the post. He held the job for just 10 days. READ MORE
FIRED190 days
Reince Priebus
White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer
Resigned after months of speculation he would be ousted by the administration. "The President wanted to go a different direction," he told CNN. READ MORE
FIRED183 days
Derek Harvey
National Security Council Adviser | Trump White House staffer
Harvey, a longtime intelligence officer, was appointed by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn during his short tenure. The National Security Council did not provide a specific reason for Harvey's removal. READ MORE
UNKNOWN187 days
Michael Short
Assistant Press Secretary | Trump White House staffer
Resigned or fired by Anthony Scaramucci, ostensibly to stop leaks to the media. Responding to reports that he was being linked to White House leaks, Short said "the entire premise is false." READ MORE
FIRED183 days
Rich Higgins
Strategic Planning Aide | Trump White House staffer
Higgins allegedly wrote a memo that purports to unravel a deep state conspiracy theory about a coordinated effort to delegitimize and destroy the President. The reason Higgins was fired was not made public. READ MORE
RESIGNED183 days
Sean Spicer
White House Press Secretary | Trump White House staffer
Spicer resigned after Scaramucci was named the new White House communications director, capping off a roller coaster six-month tenure as the chief spokesman for an administration besieged by a steady drumbeat of controversy. READ MORE
RESIGNED50 days
Mark Corallo
Spokesman and Communications Strategist for Trump's legal team | Trump legal team
Corallo's resignation came after weeks of simmering tension between the White House and the President's legal team. He declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure. His exact start date is unclear. READ MORE
RESIGNED181 days
Walter Shaub
Office of Government Ethics Director | Obama appointee
Accepted a position with the Campaign Legal Center after months of clashes with the administration over Trump's refusal to divest his businesses. Shaub had served as director of the Office of Government Ethics under President Obama since 2013. READ MORE
UNKNOWN168 days
Tera Dahl
Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Security Council | Trump White House staffer
Dahl, a former Breitbart writer and ally of Steve Bannon's, left after less than six months on the National Security Council for a role "that she wants" at the US Agency for International Development. READ MORE
RESIGNED119 days
Michael Dubke
White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer
Dubke said he had "a good conversation with the President" after submitting his resignation. He declined to discuss the turmoil inside the West Wing, saying only that he was resigning "for a number of reasons -- for personal reasons." Dubke's exact start date is unclear. READ MORE
FIRED110 days
James Comey
FBI Director | Obama appointee
The Trump administration attributed Comey's dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email server, but Democrats ridiculed that notion, raising parallels to Watergate-era firings and suggesting Comey was getting too close to the White House with the Russia probe. READ MORE
UNKNOWN106 days
Angella Reid
White House Chief Usher | Non-political White House employee
Left the Trump administration after 106 days. She had served as White House Chief Usher under President Obama since 2011. No specific reason was given for her departure. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, "It's not uncommon that you might have a transition when a new administration comes in and it's simply nothing more than that." READ MORE
RESIGNED95 days
Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General | Obama appointee
Murthy resigned at the request of the White House after assisting in the transition to the Trump administration. He continues as a member of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps READ MORE
RESIGNED80 days
K.T. McFarland
Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
McFarland was top deputy to Michael Flynn before his firing. She was to leave her post in the White House to become US ambassador to Singapore, but that fell through after Democrats objected to her nomination. READ MORE
RESIGNED70 days
Katie Walsh
Deputy Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer
Walsh was Reince Priebus' deputy, joining him in the administration after serving as his chief of staff when he was chairman of the Republican National Committee. She left to serve as a senior adviser to America First Policies, a nonprofit group helmed by former Trump campaign officials. READ MORE
FIRED25 days
Michael Flynn
National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer
Forced to resign amid claims he misled the administration over his communications with Russia during the transition. In early December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He is cooperating with Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. READ MORE
FIRED11 days
Sally Yates
US Deputy Attorney General | Obama appointee
Fired when she was acting attorney general because she refused to implement the first iteration of Trump's ban on travelers from a number of Muslim-majority countries. Trump had tapped Yates to serve as interim attorney general while Jeff Sessions went through Senate confirmation. Yates also served as deputy attorney general under President Obama. READ MORE
