Trump to Ask Kirstjen Nielsen to Pretend to Resign

We've been hearing for quite some time that Donald Trump would be orchestrating a "shake-up" in his administration after the midterms. Naturally, Jeff Sessions was first out the door — and it looks like Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is going to be next.

Nick Miroff, Josh Dawsey, and Philip Rucker at the Washington Post report:

[H]er departure from the administration is likely to occur in the coming weeks, if not sooner, according to five current and former White House officials.

Trump canceled a planned trip with Nielsen this week to visit U.S. troops at the border in South Texas and told aides over the weekend that he wants her out as soon as possible, these officials said. The president has grumbled for months about what he views as Nielsen's lackluster performance on immigration enforcement and is believed to be looking for a replacement who will implement his policy ideas with more alacrity.

The announcement could come as soon as this week, three of these officials said.

Trump has changed his mind on key personnel decisions before, and Chief of Staff John F. Kelly is fighting Nielsen's pending dismissal and attempting to postpone it, aides say. But Kelly's future in the administration also is shaky, according to three White House officials.

Probably the only reason Kelly is still there is because Trump can't figure out who to tell to fire him, since Kelly's his usual ax man.

Anyway.

Nielsen is reportedly "reluctant to leave the administration before reaching the one-year mark as secretary on Dec. 6," because it's really gonna fuck up her résumé to not have a full year at her job torturing families who come to our border seeking refuge from violence. My heart bleeds for her.

Obviously, I will not be sorry to see Nielsen go, since she's overseeing Trump's vile nativist agenda, and anyone who is willing to facilitate policy that includes tearing babies from their parents' arms to put them in cages is a wreck of a human being who belongs nowhere near the federal government.

But the reasons that Trump wants her gone are, of course, chilling: She's not malicious enough — and not loyal enough, either.

Trump has berated her during Cabinet meetings, belittled her to other White House staff, and tagged her months ago as a "Bushie," a reference to her previous service under President George W. Bush and meant to cast suspicion on her loyalty.

When Nielsen has tried to explain the laws and regulations that prevent the government from drastically curtailing immigration or closing the border with Mexico, as Trump has suggested, the president has grown impatient and frustrated, aides said.

With every passing round of exiles from the Trump White House, the Cabinet gets more extreme. No one with any decency, competence, patriotism, or independence wants to work for Donald Trump, and the leftovers he's pulling from the remaining dregs are increasingly terrifying.