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Who The Fuck Has Left The Trump Administration

Mass exodus from the EPA has shrunk the agency’s workforce by 8 percent

During the first 18 months of the Trump administration, records show, nearly 1,600 workers left the EPA, while fewer than 400 were hired. The exodus has shrunk the agency’s workforce by 8 percent, to levels not seen since the Reagan administration. The trend has continued even after a major round of buyouts last year and despite the fact that the EPA’s budget has remained stable.

Those who have resigned or retired include some of the agency’s most experienced veterans, as well as young environmental experts who traditionally would have replaced them — stirring fears about brain drain at the EPA. The sheer number of departures also has prompted concerns over what sort of work is falling by the wayside, from enforcement investigations to environmental research.

According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act and analyzed by The Washington Post, at least 260 scientists, 185 “environmental protection specialists” and 106 engineers are gone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/with-a-shrinking-epa-trump-delivers-on-his-promise-to-cut-government/2018/09/08/6b058f9e-b143-11e8-a20b-5f4f84429666_story.html?utm_term=.33398540ea4b

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Retired Admiral William “Bill” McRaven, the former head of Special Operations Command resigned from the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board last month, just days after issuing a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

“I can confirm that Admiral (ret) William H. McRaven resigned from the Defense Innovation Board, effective August 20, 2018,” Pentagon spokesperson Heather Babb told CNN in a statement. “The Department appreciates his service and contribution on the board.”

While his departure was first reported by Defense News on Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed that McRaven officially resigned last month, just four days after he authored a blistering op-ed in the Washington Post slamming Trump’s decision to revoke Brennan’s clearance.

I salute McRaven – he has the courage to stand up for his convictions. He put our nation’s security before his own personal interests. The fact that Trump has set a precedent of revoking security clearances as an act of political retribution weakens our intelligence services, our military, and our government. He sounded the alarm, knowing it would cost him dearly. I only wish that Republicans in congress would show the same resolve to protect our country from the imminent threat posed by our unhinged President.

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Holy shit!!

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Trent Teyama, FBI’s section chief for cyber readiness and COO - Cyber Division.

Speculating that given there is no strong mandate within T’s administration to curtail the war on cyber, election hacking etc., it might be time before mid-terms to cut out. Oh, and the money is always much better.

Trent is leaving for Parsons.

Trent Teyema, the FBI’s section chief for cyber readiness and chief operating officer of the bureau’s Cyber Division, has been named senior vice president and chief technology officer for the government-focused wing of Parsons Corporation.

The move comes as a number of cybersecurity experts at the bureau have left their positions over recent months. In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that a number of top-ranking cybersecurity officials were leaving for various roles in the private sector.

The FBI’s cyber readiness team works to educate enterprises on various cyberthreats and coordinate information-sharing initiatives. During his time at the bureau, Teyema helped establish the FBI’s National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, which is responsible for investigating cyberthreats that pose the most harm to the country.

Teyema also spent time as the director of cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council from 2010 to 2011.

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Rod Rosentein has offered his resignation.

Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, was considering resigning on Monday, days after private discussions were revealed in which he talked about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office and secretly taping him to expose chaos in the administration.

Over the weekend, Mr. Rosenstein called a White House official and said he was considering quitting, and a person close to the White House said he was resigning. On Monday morning, Mr. Rosenstein was on his way to the White House to meet with Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, John F. Kelly.

Mr. Trump was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and it was not clear whether he would accept a resignation, fire Mr. Rosenstein or allow him to remain in the job.

Update:

President Donald Trump will meet with Rod Rosenstein Thursday after the deputy attorney general went to the White House Monday expecting to be fired.

Rosenstein met with chief of staff John Kelly and spoke with Trump, who is in New York.

“At the request of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he and President Trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “Because the President is at the United Nations General Assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, DC.”

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If this is true, I’m extremely disappointed in Rosenstein. He should be fighting this tooth and nail. First, my understanding is that his remarks about recording Trump were sarcastic, but even if they weren’t, there’s no harm in discussing various contingencies in the face of a crisis which is where the DOJ found itself after the firing of Comey.

Anyone who has worked in business, politics, or the military knows that contingencies are discussed all the time – it’s called brainstorming. A group charged with finding a solution for an intractable problem is, in fact, remiss in its duties if it doesn’t brainstorm. At the beginning of the path toward a viable solution many possible courses of action are be placed on the table and then, by a process of elimination and creative thinking, the best solution is selected – it’s simply good process management to do so. It would be another matter if Rosenstein went further down the path of recording Trump (for example, a detailed memo or Powerpoint presentation was produced that showed an actual plan for doing so), but my understanding is, this is not the case.

This morning, some commentators are trying to put a good face on Rosenstein’s possible departure, saying it wouldn’t really affect the Mueller investigation that much. I strongly disagree. Mueller reports to the Attorney General (or in the present case, the Deputy AG, since Sessions has recused himself – for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll just call that person “Mueller’s boss”).

Mueller’s boss can interfere with the investigation in many ways, for example reducing the budget, denying requests to follow leads that may extend beyond the initial scope of the investigation, etc. And ultimately Mueller’s boss can fire Mueller. (see footnote 1)

In addition, following the normal line of succession, Rosenstein’s replacement replacement would be Noel Francisco, "a longtime conservative lawyer with ties to the White House. You can bet he will do Trump’s bidding.

And just as importantly, when Mueller produces his report, it goes to his boss who then decides whether or not it will be made public. I’m not sure that Rosenstein would make it public, but I’m darn sure his replacement would not. I want to read every single word of that report! (see footnote 2)

So I feel there is really no way to put a good face on this. Rosenstein’s departure would, at the least, impede the investigation and, at worst, bring it to a virtual halt and keep the findings secret.

Come on, Rosenstein, stand up and fight this!

Footnotes

  1. From Politico:

As the Justice Department authority overseeing the investigation, Francisco could narrow its parameters or deny specific requests to prevent Mueller from looking into Trump’s personal and business affairs. He would also assume control of Mueller’s budget.

(A shout out to @hippopotatomus and @dragonfly9 for calling attention to this way back in April.)

  1. Also from Politico:

Under the special counsel regulations guiding his appointment, Mueller would submit his report to Rosenstein, not to Congress or the public. And under those regulations, his report will remain confidential unless Rosenstein decides to release it.

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On today’s episode of the The Daily podcast, Michael S. Schmidt, disagreed, citing sources within the room that said the comment wasn’t sarcastic but that they may have been spitballing ideas.

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Exactly! I was a little unhappy with the initial reporting on this because it seemed as if journalists were limiting themselves to a binary assessment: Rosenstein was either plotting or joking. But the third possibility, that he was spit balling or brainstorming, is the most reasonable to me and is certainly not cause for resigning or being fired. We still don’t know the full story, but I’m glad that the press is waking up to the fact that there are more than just two possible explanations for Rosenstein’s remarks.

BTW, thanks for the podcast link – will check it out.

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I agree…not certain that Rosenstein was sarcastic. A lot of the commentary today (MSNBC - Morning Joe, etc) has been stating that within the 8 day period between Comey’s firing and Rosenstein’s final decision to get Mueller in there, the reporters are remarking that Rosenstein was upended by this firing. Rosenstein was put into the hot public spotlight, feared for the worse that indeed T had corrupt intentions and thought to maybe wiretap him, calling for the 25th amendment.

Reporters (Matt Miller, former DOJ spokesperson, MSNBC contributor and by not saying too much until The Daily - author Michael Schmidt) were stating that it would have been known to Rosenstein that the 25th Amendment would have been a steep hill to climb, with the need to get all the cabinet on board, as well as the President’s consent. As far as wiretapping, that set off alarm bells because the only time one would do that is if you had suspicions you were dealing with a criminal. And could Rosenstein walk that one back…? Not sure he can…

Rosenstein is going to be leaving sometime in the near future. The pundits are all expecting that Mueller would be in “clear the embassy” mode, ie - need to leave asap, forward all important materials to outside DA’s and get your affairs in order.

It is going to be a helluva week…may we all have a lot of shock absorbers. :oncoming_automobile::fire:

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Domestic Policy Council Director Andrew Bremberg is leaving the White House at the end of the year, three sources familiar with his plans told POLITICO.

Bremberg, who has been with the administration since President Donald Trump’s election, will be nominated as the next ambassador to the United Nations Mission in Geneva, an administration official and two people close to the White House said.

The move ends a nearly two-year tenure for Bremberg atop the president’s Domestic Policy Council, where he played a central role in the White House’s broad deregulation effort and was involved in coordinating the GOP’s major policy initiatives — including its failed attempts to repeal Obamacare.

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EPA will eliminate Office of the Science Advisor

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to dissolve its Office of the Science Advisor, a senior post that was created to counsel the E.P.A. administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans. The person spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet been made public.

The science adviser works across the agency to ensure that the highest quality science is integrated into the agency’s policies and decisions, according to the E.P.A.’s website. The move is the latest among several steps taken by the Trump administration that appear to have diminished the role of scientific research in policymaking while the administration pursues an agenda of rolling back regulations.

Asked about the E.P.A.’s plans, John Konkus, a spokesman for the agency, emailed a prepared statement from the science adviser, Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, in which she described the decision to dissolve the office as one that would “combine offices with similar functions” and “eliminate redundancies.

After dissolving the office of the scientific adviser, Mr. Wheeler plans to merge the position into an office that reports to the E.P.A.’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, a demotion that would put at least two more managerial layers between the E.P.A.’s chief scientist and its top decision maker.

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday lost another senior level official in his administration with the resignation of Jeff Pon, director of the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the federal government workforce.

The move appeared to have been sudden. As recently as Thursday, Pon had issued a statement about modernizing the federal workforce. On Friday, the OPM had not yet removed his biography and statements from its website.

Trump named Margaret Weichert, the Office of Management and Budget’s deputy director for management, to be the acting OPM director, the White House said. Weichert will continue in her OMB role at the same time, the White House said.

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Soft landing…Hope Hicks will move to Fox News.

Let’s not forget she was part of the conspiracy to cover up the true purpose of the Trump Tower meeting – she’s undoubtedly in line for an indictment if she hasn’t already made a deal.

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Trump has accepted Nikki Haley’s resignation

President Trump has accepted Nikki Haley’s resignation as UN Ambassador, the two said Tuesday morning in a public Oval Office meeting. She will exit at the end of the year, Trump said.

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A possible reason for her sudden, unexplained departure: :small_airplane: :eyes:

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Yes, this could be. Everyone seems really stumped, right? :eyes:

Former Gov. Sanford said that it could be the plane use, and she wanted to resign before the stuff hit the fan for all her private plane use.

Or that if Sen Graham leaves to become the Atty General (when T gets rid of Sessions after the midterms) then she could take his seat.

Or that she wants to leave before all the loss of seats in the mid-terms…and keeps her record clean and on a ‘winning’ front.

Or she’s always been ideologically opposed to T’s policies and she wants to go her own way…She is not really in sync with Sec Pompeo.

Or T chose Dina Powell and wants her to take the Ambassador role.

All reporters are going awaiting leaks from the WH.

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@Keaton_James
Interesting theory from John Hudson of WaPo
Click for full thread :point_down:
https://twitter.com/john_hudson/status/1049668803523747840?s=21

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New Acting Inspector General of the Interior Department Cabinet member Suzanne Israel Tufts (leaves Housing) to oversee and act as an agency watchdog under Ryan Zinke who has two investigations against him. Unclear if he is will be gone…but could be looking that way.

Some speculation that she could help save Zinke from these investigations…

The White House appears to be replacing the agency watchdog at the Interior Department who is in the midst of two investigations into Secretary Ryan Zinke, drawing criticism from government oversight groups.

In an internal email sent last Friday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced to his staff that after just seven months at the agency, the assistant secretary for administration, Suzanne Israel Tufts, was moving over to the Interior Department to be the acting inspector general. Acting inspectors general do not need Senate confirmation.

But the internal announcement came as news to the Interior Department IG’s office, which said in a statement to NBC News, “The Office of Inspector General has received no official communication about any leadership changes.”

“We are particularly worried that she’s a political appointee without any obvious government oversight experience,” Brian said, referring to Tufts. “And they are sliding her in under the radar of any Senate confirmation process to take over charged investigations into the behavior of the cabinet secretary.

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Deputy Interior Inspector General Mary Kendall is let go…fired. Replaced by Tufts.

Suzanne Israel Tufts, was moving over to the Interior Department to be the acting inspector general.

Tufts, a long-time Republican attorney who has worked for multiple New York law firms, would be replacing Deputy Interior Inspector General Mary Kendall.

Kendall has been running the agency’s watchdog investigations and audits team of 265 employees for 10 years.

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