Appointee watch: Another cabinet post shuffle. Why Trump’s preoccupation with “central casting” matters. Olivia Nuzzi goes inside the cutthroat battle to be the next Hope Hicks. Trump being told he doesn’t need a communications director or chief of staff. Trump is gaslighting the public — you can see it in the way he fires cabinet members. Jen Kirby on Trump’s cabinet, ranked by how likely they are to get fired. On his way out, VA’s David Shulkin warns of radical privatization scheme. There’s now a national campaign to oust EPA head Scott Pruitt. Jeff Sessions is winning for Donald Trump — if only he can keep his job.
John Bolton’s appointment reveals this much bigger problem. “We know where your kids live”: How John Bolton once threatened an international official. “Kiss up, kick down”: Those recalling Bolton’s U.N. confirmation process say he hasn’t changed. Can Jim Mattis hold the line in Trump’s “war cabinet”? Dismissed as a warmonger during the Obama presidency, the defense secretary may be the only reliable voice of caution left in an administration inching closer to the brink.
