Trump may refuse to fire people for an unexpected reason: analysis

President Donald Trump wants to fire controversial cabinet members like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, but a new report reveals fears that it will be “too disruptive” unless he gets the timing just right.

“From Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s relationship with Corey Lewandowski to FBI Director Kash Patel’s locker-room celebration with the US men’s hockey team to a probe of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s conduct in office, multiple Trump advisers are facing bad headlines that would have sunk their counterparts under other presidents,” report Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott.

At the same time, with the midterm elections approaching, the Senate Republicans who have to appoint Trump’s replacement are reluctant to open that politically-charged can of worms at this political moment.

"Folks are going to want to know that the team’s going to stay together through the election,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said to Semafor. “We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting close. You don’t want to be trying to hire people to train them in, going into an election. All your attention needs to be on the election.”

Hoeven was not alone among Senate Republicans in his concerns.

“I just don’t think he’s going to do that before the election,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “I just think it’s perceived as too disruptive.”

By contrast an outgoing Republican senator, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, argued that when it comes to possible firings from Trump’s cabinet, “top on the list is Kristi Noem, adding that “probably” others deserve it too, “but I’m a very disciplined person, I can’t get past that one.”

According to a White House adviser, Trump “looks at it so differently than the rest of us … the biggest convincing factor for him would probably be, ‘Sir, we still are confident about the Senate, but if our margins go down even more, you’re going to have a very difficult time confirming who you want.’ The president’s instincts here are probably not to, but we’ve always wanted Kristi to go.”

This is not the first report that Trump might want to fire members of his cabinet like Noem, and yet simultaneously been hamstrung by his reservations. According to Wall Street Journal writer Josh Dawsey, “the president has told senior officials in the administration he does not want to fire Cabinet secretaries at this time. And he wished that he wouldn't have had to fire so many people in the first time. And it led to leaks and drama and he doesn't want to give scalps to his critics or the media. So, I think that's one reason you see some survivals."

Despite this reluctance to drop the hammer on underlings, Trump has publicly hinted at his dissatisfaction with some of them. During a public cabinet meeting in January, Trump conspicuously refused to call on Noem, prompting journalist Andrew Feinberg from The Independent to observe that this is "what Italians might call Il bacio della morte — the “kiss of death” — to the ex-South Dakota governor."

"That’s a fate possibly worse than firing in Trumpworld, where one’s ability to publicly praise the president and attack the press (and Democrats) in various public forums is often the coin of the realm," Feinberg explained. "And while she’s still firmly ensconced in her office ... Noem may well be the first Trump cabinet secretary to get the hook this year."