In light of this news, many experts have stated that it appears as though the catalyst for the firing is Trump's desire to form a new team in preparation for the negotiations with North Korea. This doesn't seem to be entirely true however, and there seems to be many contributing factors, as President Trump has openly stated that he has had his eye on Pompeo for the position for a while now. The complete fallout of the ordeal has yet to be fully realized, and the removal of Tillerson from the White House will ultimately have effects on many issues, specifically concerning the direction of the negotiations with North Korea. For now we will just have to wait and see what will arise from all of this, as at the moment it remains rather uncertain.
What do You Think?
Five administration officials have already either been resigned or been fired within the last two weeks. What issues could potentially arise from the seemingly constant departures from the administration?
How do you think the firing will effect negotiations with North Korea?
Should a president and their Secretary of State always have similar ideals and concerns on issues to maintain fluidity, or is it important that there be disagreement and negotiation between the two? This question can be outstretched to other positions outside of the Secretary of State and Rex Tillerson.
Trump has readily made his cabinet and administration less and less filled, and there are even more rumors that Trump has intent to fire even more of these members. Trump hadn't organized his administration from the beginning, when he took office. There are still positions that need to be filled either due to firing, retirement, or resignation. There are still no ambassadors to Saudi Arabia or North Korea, both very important positions that need to be filled. In light of positions that need to be filled, after Pompeo is assumed to take Secretary of State, the candidate for CIA director is Gina Haspel, a very experienced CIA operative, but also a very disputed candidate because of her relation to torture methods in covert operations and her lack of public presence while working for the CIA. Leaving the CIA director's spot vacant, as Donald Trump and Rand Paul have both stated they won't condone her candidacy, would leave another huge gap in the wake of an administration that seems to be tearing down our domestic relations as well as our foreign ones. Pompeo is a good candidate purely based on the fact that there will be much less room for dispute in communication between the Secretary of State and President, which is very important. The people in these positions don't necessarily always have to agree, but stating the same national policy is an important trait that will, in theory, happen more often if Pompeo becomes the next Secretary of State.
ReplyDeleteI think that the rapid shift in trump's cabinet says more about him and the stability of the presidency than anything else. Like Jennifer said, it shows the disorganization in trump's presidency and discredits him more than any of the people he has fired. Overall, this rapid shift prevents any people from working there long enough to stabilize and work more efficiently.
ReplyDeleteThe President and Secretary of State should agree on most issues, as the Secretary of State exists to promote the president's foreign policy beliefs. Though it is important to have discourse, there is good reason President Obama chose people like John Kerry and Hillary Clinton as opposed to the choices of President W. Bush. In a political cabinet already filled with discontent, President Trump needs people who will support him and his presidency. In addition, Pompeo has much more experience than Tillerson and will hopefully aid the president in making sound foreign policy decisions.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some good points there with the example of President Obama's administration, that hadn't really crossed my mind when I was writing that question and it certainly adds some clarity. I know it seems odd for me to answer a question that I myself asked, but I'd also like to add that President Trump's ideals and beliefs towards issue change so erratically, that it would be difficult to even find people who properly align with him in what he says. Despite being heavily Conservative, a lot of what he says doesn't seem to be Partisan based. This can be seen in his recently surprising statements regarding gun control. As much as I would like to believe that he and his cabinet can be trusted, it seems his administration is only becoming comprised of people who directly kiss up to him and support whatever he says, which is greatly concerning in my opinion. I think that at the rate President Trump is spewing words from his mouth, having people such as Tillerson within the administration is crucial to maintaining an equilibrium of some sort.
DeleteFurthermore, the problem with having people always support him is that it will continuously boost his ego, which could lead to him making some rash decisions. The idea of the Cabinet is to have a wise board of advisers, able to help in the situation that the President does not feel comfortable in. As it is currently, the executive branch of government will soon be completely incompetent at dealing with major problems. However, simply having people within the administration to speak out will not fix the problem, there needs to be an outside source.
DeleteI don't understand how no one has called the president out on this already, but he his basically removing everyone in his way. Whoever has disagreed or opposed Trumps ideas have been silenced. It's not fair for the white house to be filled with all people who think the same. The two party system in in place in order to get a variety of ideas in place. If Trump continues to fire everyone who disagrees with him, than no one will actually stand up for what they believe in. The government won't effectively be able to run if everyone is in fear of their job. It's not fair to officials and it's not fair to the American people who are suffering because Trump is bullying the white house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelsey on how Trump's actions have basically created an echo chamber for his...special brand of beliefs. However, besides that, the turnover rate in the White House will cause inefficiency or faulty operation due to the change of stance that comes from new staff. In addition, Trump should not be focusing so much of his effort on removing people from the government when there are currently more than 250 unfilled government positions. As for the effect on North Korea, I feel like the firing of Rex Tillerson just hurts America's credibility. Tillerson had pushed for negotiation with North Korea before, and Trump had lashed out at him for it and then completely flipped positions. His firing just airs out Trump's embarrassment and capricious nature.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Secretary of State should be aligned with the President's agenda, at least to show a bit of consistency between the president and their international representative. The rest of the government needs to balance the President's views out in order to prevent a complete echo chamber like Trump seems to want.
I agree with Jenifer in that the President needs to fill the holes in his government quickly, because there a quite a few to fill. Of more than 600 key jobs filled by presidential nomination, more than half of them are currently vacant awaiting confirmation or have no nominee. This is incredibly dangerous, since all of those jobs have important functions that help keep the country running. But more dangerous still is how Trump surrounds himself with people that only confirm his beliefs, a dangerous practice for even the sanest of presidents. Many issues could arise from these firings, as Trump could have his worst behaviors reafirmed. However, these firings are indicative of something more sinister. Under section four of the twenty-fifth amendment, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet could impeach the president. Is Trump trying to rid himself of potential sabateurs before they have a chance to strike? Or worse, is he utterly unaware of the laws of the country he leads?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the President and the Secretary of State have to agree on everything. I think diversity of views for political issues and disagreement is actually very important because it brings different perspectives to the table. I think it also brings a very necessary balance to the White House and decision making process that takes place. If everyone in office had the same views, our decisions would be very one sided, completely disregarding the other side of it. So I think that having diversity/two different points of view is very important for making informed and fair decisions for the nation and other countries.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is necessary for the Secretary of State and the President to always have the same opinion, or always agree. It is always good to have a little disagreement, in any situation, to get a glimpse into the other person's point of view. If the Secretary of State and the President always agreed, there would not be as much discussion about what may be the best option for the people.
ReplyDeleteI think the president and the Secretary of State should have different opinions sometimes because it is good to have a variety of ideas. If everything revolved around Trump's opinion, nobody else in America could have a say and he could just be a dictator. This could damage our relationship with North Korea because they could see the US as unreliable since Trump continues to focus on firing people. Trump should try to fill the spots for the people he fired. Ultimately, Trump should have other things to focus on instead of trying to fire and hire new people. He is only making his job more difficult by adding more work for himself trying to find new people to hire.
ReplyDelete