Vox - Trump White House firings, resignations, and oustershttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2020-12-14T18:55:00-05:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/169527492020-12-14T18:55:00-05:002020-12-14T18:55:00-05:00Attorney General Bill Barr contradicted Trump on voter fraud. Now he’s resigning.
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<figcaption>US Attorney General William Barr at the US Capitol on November 9 in Washington, DC. | Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>He will depart December 23.</p> <p id="9zgyzy">Attorney General Bill Barr is resigning, President Donald Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338614499981602819?s=20">announced on Twitter Monday evening</a>. His last day will be December 23.</p>
<p id="SYKY99">Barr has been one of Trump’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/13/21134569/barr-roger-stone-trump">most loyal allies</a>, most notably for his outspoken criticism of the 2016 Russia investigation and for going as far as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/10/25/20931994/russia-investigation-bill-barr-john-durham-criminal-review">launching an investigation into the origins of that probe</a>. </p>
<p id="p4iGYb">But Barr’s relationship with the president had become strained in recent weeks over the attorney general’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">refusal to back Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election</a>. Barr, contradicting Trump, said earlier this month that there was no evidence of “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election</a>.” Barr <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/william-barr-may-resign/2020/12/06/bbbc5f7e-382a-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html">had reportedly told associates</a> in recent weeks that he was considering stepping down from his post before Inauguration Day. </p>
<p id="yntnoG">Whether this was fully Barr’s decision is not totally clear, given that the attorney general had clearly fallen out of favor with the president. Last week, Trump retweeted a post that called for Barr to be fired. Trump also added his own commentary: “<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1337754366569295874?s=20">A big disappointment!</a>” </p>
<p id="JloLc4">On Monday, before the news of Barr’s departure had been announced, a reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/1338616547204608001?s=20">asked</a> White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany about the friction between Barr and Trump. “Yeah, you know there’s a clear frustration,” she responded. “I’ll leave it at that.”</p>
<p id="Cp1bsG">Trump, in announcing Barr’s resignation Monday evening, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338614514493878273?s=20">said</a> in a tweet: “Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!”</p>
<p id="mYsGiU">Trump added: “As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family... Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!”</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">...Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all! <a href="https://t.co/V5sqOJT9PM">pic.twitter.com/V5sqOJT9PM</a></p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338614514493878273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2020</a>
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<p id="1l19Tt">Trump’s tweet included Barr’s resignation letter — and it’s really quite something, as far as resignation letters go. </p>
<p id="WuCNWy">In it, Barr praises the president effusively, saying that he is “greatly honored that you called on me to serve your Administration and the American people once again as Attorney General.”</p>
<p id="FovY1F">“I am proud to have played a role in the many successes and unprecedented achievements you have delivered for the American people,” Barr writes. He continues:</p>
<blockquote><p id="8xbNUh">Your record is all the more historic because you accomplished it in the face of relentless, implacable resistance. Your 2016 victory speech in which you reached out to your opponents and called for working together for the benefit of the American people was immediately met by a partisan onslaught against you in which no tactic, no matter how abusive and deceitful, was out of bounds. The nadir of this campaign was the effort to cripple, if not oust, your Administration with frenzied and baseless accusations of collusion with Russia.</p></blockquote>
<p id="Thl3mk">This is a truly remarkable statement, given that Barr was tasked with overseeing the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. </p>
<p id="Cv1m5v">Barr has made no secret of his distaste for the Russia probe, and he made controversial moves that critics say undercut Mueller’s work, from misleadingly framing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mueller-complained-that-barrs-letter-did-not-capture-context-of-trump-probe/2019/04/30/d3c8fdb6-6b7b-11e9-a66d-a82d3f3d96d5_story.html">Mueller’s findings in an early summary</a> to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/11/trump-allies-michael-flynn-roger-stone-got-help-from-william-barr.html">questionable interventions</a> in the cases of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump associate Roger Stone, both of whom were charged in the special counsel’s investigation. (Trump later commuted Stone’s sentence, and he recently pardoned Flynn.) </p>
<p id="dgvmv2">Barr also tapped a US federal prosecutor, John Durham, to launch an inquiry into the origins of the 2016 Russia investigation. Barr has since named Durham as special counsel, thereby allowing Durham to continue his work <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/01/940816261/barr-makes-john-durham-investigating-russia-probe-a-special-counsel">under a Biden presidency</a>.</p>
<p id="9uZjre">Barr helped Trump advance his agenda in other ways, too, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/17/18411929/william-barr-attorney-general-immigration-detention-asylum-bond">including on immigration</a> and on <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-identifies-new-york-city-portland-and-seattle-jurisdictions-permitting">punishing protesters and cities</a> for disorder during this summer’s protests. </p>
<p id="h7ZXc5">But all of that might not have been enough to keep Barr in Trump’s good graces once Barr decided not to back Trump’s disproven claims that the election was stolen from him. Instead, Barr is the latest official departing or <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/9/21551277/mark-esper-fired-trump-pentagon">forced out</a> with just weeks left in Trump’s presidency. </p>
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https://www.vox.com/2020/12/14/22175221/bill-barr-resigns-trump-attorney-generalJen Kirby2020-11-09T13:18:52-05:002020-11-09T13:18:52-05:00Mark Esper is out as defense secretary, months after defying Trump
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<figcaption>Ousted Defense Secretary Mark Esper at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on July 9, 2020, in Washington, DC. | Greg Nash/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Pentagon boss’s ouster was a long time coming.</p> <p id="twnuoy">Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been fired, mere days after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. </p>
<p id="PT3neY">Trump made the Monday afternoon announcement, as he often does, on <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325859407620689922?s=20">Twitter</a>. “Mark Esper has been terminated,” the president wrote. “I would like to thank him for his service.” He added that Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, would take over as the acting Pentagon boss.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">...Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325859407620689922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2020</a>
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<p id="Islrey">Esper has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Trump since he became defense secretary in July 2019, and in recent weeks many observers believed the Pentagon chief was a “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/politics/mark-esper-trump-defense-secretary.html">dead man walking</a>.” They were right.</p>
<p id="iYEIpw">Initially, the former Army infantry member and Raytheon lobbyist seemed to be in lockstep with the president. When Trump wanted US troops sent to the border with Mexico, Esper <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/us/esper-approves-troop-deployments-along-the-us-mexico-border-through-2020-1.598415">gave the authorization</a> with minimal fuss. When Trump wanted to block military aid to Ukraine — an event that led to Trump’s impeachment — Esper <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/esper-declines-say-if-he-knew-political-considerations-regarding-trump-n1097836">did little to stop it or detail his knowledge of the effort</a>. </p>
<p id="oGxQnK">Esper even joined Trump for the president’s controversial walk across Lafayette Square in June after federal law enforcement officials <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/5/21281604/lafayette-square-white-house-tear-gas-protest">scattered a protest crowd with tear gas</a> — all in service of a photo op featuring Trump holding a Bible.</p>
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<figcaption>Protesters on June 15 hold a large photo showing the moment two weeks earlier when President Donald Trump walked across Washington, DC’s Lafayette Park with Defense Secretary Mark Esper (center) and other officials, after having the area cleared of protesters.</figcaption>
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<p id="l3YIZ3">Esper’s conduct earned him the nickname “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/20/esper-defense-yes-man-reputation-370248">Yesper</a>,” underscoring the sentiment in Washington’s national security circles that the secretary was Trump’s lapdog. In August, the president even <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1294756279576133635?s=20">repeated that nickname</a> when talking about Esper with reporters. </p>
<p id="ZyySVR">But over the summer, Esper began to buck Trump on some of his more controversial demands, quickly putting him on the president’s bad side.</p>
<p id="goagKO">When Trump demanded that active-duty troops be sent into cities to quash the anti-police brutality protests taking place across the country, Esper publicly rejected the president’s plea.</p>
<p id="sFFH65">“The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations,” Esper said during a <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2206685/secretary-of-defense-esper-addresses-reporters-regarding-civil-unrest/">June 3 Pentagon news conference</a>. “We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/1/21277339/george-floyd-trump-military-insurrection-act">Insurrection Act</a>,” he continued, referring to a centuries-old law that gives the president the authority to send troops to halt domestic unrest.</p>
<p id="q9naaj"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-wanted-to-fire-esper-over-troops-dispute-11591728235?mod=hp_lead_pos2">Trump considered firing Esper over that announcement</a> but was talked out of it by aides. That gave Esper the space the next month to ban the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/17/pentagon-bans-confederate-flag-367550">Confederate flag on all military property</a>, even as Trump argued Army bases should still be named after Confederate leaders.</p>
<p id="NGRi6N">Esper <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/politics/mark-esper-trump-defense-secretary.html">kept a noticeably lower profile</a> after that. He spent the last few months traveling the world and avoiding the press, likely in an effort to stay out of the spotlight and the election conversation. He also had to contend with a coronavirus outbreak within the US military, which so far has killed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/politics/mark-esper-trump-defense-secretary.html">nine troops out of about 2.2 million</a>.</p>
<p id="LR28L2">That apparently wasn’t enough to get Esper back in Trump’s good graces. The president remained angry over Esper’s June statement and had <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/white-house-has-talked-va-secretary-about-taking-pentagon-job-n1239007">discussed replacing him month after month</a> with staff. The main argument against removing Esper was that he hadn’t clearly done anything wrong and that it would look bad ahead of the election.</p>
<p id="GzvaDy">Esper, though, knew of Trump’s ire and drafted a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/long-odds-trump-defense-secretary-esper-has-prepared-resignation-letter-n1245846">resignation letter</a> as he worked with lawmakers to change the names of bases honoring Confederates.</p>
<p id="Dg0We2">With the election over, Trump finally followed through on his desire to oust his Pentagon chief. Esper may rue no longer being the defense secretary, but he might like getting his name back.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2020/11/9/21551277/mark-esper-fired-trump-pentagonAlex Ward2019-07-28T17:00:16-04:002019-07-28T17:00:16-04:00Trump says Daniel Coats, America’s top spy, will step down
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<img alt="Dan Coats, now the former director of national intelligence, has resigned." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vUUJLswEfLM-CkjeIWEfAiOUlic=/146x0:2813x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64841977/928063560.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dan Coats has resigned as director of national intelligence. | Win McNamee/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Daniel Coats said what’s happening in the world. In the Trump era, that’s an act of defiance.</p> <p id="jbyNep">President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will soon be replaced because he kept doing the one thing Trump couldn’t stand: telling the truth.</p>
<p id="RHlEKh">In a Sunday tweet, Trump wished Coats well after serving two years in his position and said that Coats will resign officially on August 15. Trump added that he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), a staunch Congressional ally who fiercely sided with the president during the Mueller probe, as the nation’s next top spy.</p>
<p id="PY538S">There have been rumblings in recent days that <a href="https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-remove-dan-coats-director-of-national-intelligence-2ba4275d-7624-4f4b-9026-ee0d0606ce32.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic">Coats’s departure was imminent</a>. One person familiar with the decision told me that Coats was “not loved in the administration,” and Trump had long wanted him gone.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">....be leaving office on August 15th. I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country. The Acting Director will be named shortly.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1155580142225383425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2019</a>
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<p id="wTMDAK">Hours later, Coats’s resignation letter became public. Among other things, Coats made sure to note the “threats against our elections” — an issue Trump continues to minimize or outright ignore.</p>
<p id="KsA2yh">The likely reason Trump was so disappointed in his intelligence chief in the end isn’t that he did his job badly — it’s that he did it well. </p>
<p id="Qoi9hC">The job of the director of national intelligence is to oversee <a href="https://www.dni.gov/index.php/what-we-do/members-of-the-ic">the entire US intelligence community</a> — a sprawling collection of agencies that includes the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA as well as offices within the Pentagon, State Department, and even the Department of Energy. </p>
<p id="pX7qD5">The <a href="https://www.dni.gov/index.php/careers">DNI</a> is also meant to serve as “the principal adviser” to the president on all “intelligence matters related to national security.” And it’s in that capacity that he seems to have run afoul of the president.</p>
<p id="ZfNuEe">This was most evident on January 29, when Coats and other top US intelligence officials presented their annual <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf">“Worldwide Threat Assessment”</a> report to the Senate Intelligence Committee. That report is supposed to present “the collective insights” of the entire intelligence community about the biggest threats currently facing the United States.</p>
<p id="dlCl5D">But the picture Coats and his colleagues presented that day was in stark contrast to the picture of the world Trump and his administration have been trying to sell to the American people. </p>
<p id="qD9YES">One after the other, Coats and the others testified that ISIS <em>isn’t</em> on the verge of defeat; that North Korea <em>isn’t</em> likely to give up its nuclear arsenal anytime soon; that Iran <em>isn’t </em>currently trying to acquire a nuclear weapon. </p>
<p id="sDHLv5">They also testified that climate change is not only real but also a genuine national security threat. And they reaffirmed that Russia continues to interfere in US politics and plans to do so again in the 2020 election.</p>
<p id="jbZ9Qp">All those assessments, stunningly, countered Trump’s own stated positions and worldview. And he was furious.</p>
<p id="Ky8mbU">The morning after the hearing, Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1090608298343190528">tweeted</a> that his intelligence people “<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1090609577006112769">should go back to school</a>” because they didn’t agree with his views, particularly when it came to how dangerous Iran really is. </p>
<p id="kwLIXR">The <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1091088745191874562">next day</a>, he summoned Coats and the other officials who’d testified before the Senate to the Oval Office for a group picture — and lied about what they’d said on the record during that Senate hearing.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">....I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1091088745191874562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2019</a>
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<p id="0xV8iX">Coats, who’d read the intelligence community’s assessment in front of the Senate, bore the brunt of Trump’s fury. That bodes poorly for whoever may replace him.</p>
<p id="dFgdHE">“It’s unfortunate that the president deems the DNI’s statement as a sign of disloyalty ... rather than the product of unbiased and expert analytic effort,” Jung Pak, a former top CIA official analyzing North Korea, told me. “If the perception is that the president fired Coats for just simply providing the intelligence community’s assessment, it is likely to cause concern — if it hasn’t already — about the potential for a more activist DNI.”</p>
<p id="70U027">But it wasn’t the first time Coats had publicly contradicted his boss. </p>
<h3 id="9jM9yK">Coats backed the intelligence community more than Trump</h3>
<p id="opTJzQ">In June 2017, during <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/16/17576956/transcript-putin-trump-russia-helsinki-press-conference">a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki</a>, Trump was directly asked whether he believed his intelligence community’s assessment that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US presidential election — or whether he believed Putin’s denial that his country had interfered. </p>
<p id="u8GpIG">Instead of affirming that <em>of course </em>he believed his own intelligence agencies, Trump responded by saying, “I have confidence in both parties.” He continued: “My people came to me, Dan Coats came to me and some others. They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia.” </p>
<p id="E7nvOd">That the president was seeming to give equal (if not more) weight to the words of a foreign adversary over the assessment of his own intelligence professionals stunned many — <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/16/dan-coats-shoots-back-at-trump-who-refused-to-side-with-him-over-putin.html">apparently including Dan Coats</a>.</p>
<p id="iE7Y5G">Coats responded shortly after with a strong statement defending the findings of the intelligence community he represented:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">STATEMENT FROM DAN COATS: "The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers. We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election..." <a href="https://t.co/X1DbEBVEMU">pic.twitter.com/X1DbEBVEMU</a></p>— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1018925533277642755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2018</a>
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<p id="10jFyU">It was an unprecedented public rebuke of the president, and a move that many thought would spell the end of Coats’s tenure in the Trump administration. That perception wasn’t helped when, just a few days later, Coats told a crowd at a major international security conference in Aspen, Colorado, that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/politics/dan-coats-donald-trump-putin-aspen/index.html">he disagreed with Trump’s decision to have a one-on-one meeting with the Russian president at all</a>. </p>
<p id="XXVwSo">But despite all the talk, Coats managed to keep his job. That is, until now. It seems the president finally tired of having his top spy publicly contradict him left and right. </p>
<p id="8EenvP">Now it looks like Trump picked someone who will tell him what he wants to hear, not what’s true. That’s a huge problem, as the DNI’s job is to give the president the information he needs to make informed policy decisions.</p>
<p id="eZ0UkK">Which means that while Trump may be happier with whoever his new intelligence director ends up being, America will be less safe for it.</p>
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https://www.vox.com/2019/7/28/1499627/coats-trump-fired-intelligence-north-korea-iranAlex Ward2019-07-12T10:10:00-04:002019-07-12T10:10:00-04:00Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is resigning
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<img alt="US Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta speaks during a press conference July 10, 2019 at the Labor Department in Washington, DC" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cbOQUnYNSkNH2hWRA7Z16yWzRQE=/392x0:3521x2347/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64716208/1161241517.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>US Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta speaks during a press conference July 10, 2019, at the Labor Department in Washington, DC. | Alex Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>He has been heavily criticized for his handling of the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p> <p id="F0AIhh">US Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-announces-resignation/">announced on Friday</a> that he would resign after facing heavy criticism for his role in granting a light sentence to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/3/18116351/jeffrey-epstein-indictment-arrested-trump-clinton-acosta">sex offender Jeffrey Epstein</a>.</p>
<p id="BYahX6">Epstein, a money manager whose <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-08/the-mystery-around-jeffrey-epstein-s-fortune-and-how-he-made-it">source of wealth is mysterious</a>, was indicted in 2007 in connection with allegations that he sexually abused dozens of underage girls at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion. But prosecutors under Acosta, then the US attorney for Miami, cut a deal with Epstein allowing him to serve just 13 months in a county jail.</p>
<p id="c7KFZm">Criticism of Acosta has been growing since last year, when <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html">Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald</a> first reported on the deal. Calls for the labor secretary’s resignation intensified this week, after <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/7/20685023/billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-arrested-minor-sex-trafficking-charges">Epstein was arrested</a> and indicted on new sex trafficking charges in New York. Lawmakers including <a href="https://twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/1148428641849806849?s=21">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi</a> had called for Acosta to step down.</p>
<p id="RBiXyV">On Friday, Acosta heeded those calls, announcing in an appearance with President Trump that he did not want the Epstein case to distract from the administration’s accomplishments, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-announces-resignation/">according to CBS</a>. Trump said the resignation was entirely Acosta’s decision.</p>
<p id="iD90D0">Acosta’s resignation means that the man who helped give Epstein a pass on prison is no longer in charge of a government agency that oversees, among other things, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/alex-acosta-gave-a-pass-to-jeffrey-epstein-years-ago-hes-still-failing-victims-today/2019/07/08/1247e6d8-a1be-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.874f91a7d8d4">visas for sex trafficking victims</a>. But for the dozens of women who say Epstein abused them, the fight is far from over.</p>
<h3 id="1AwTFA">Critics have been calling for Acosta’s resignation for months</h3>
<p id="Q47rWV">Calls for Acosta’s resignation — from the right and left — have been growing ever since the Herald published Brown’s story in November 2018. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/3/18116351/jeffrey-epstein-indictment-arrested-trump-clinton-acosta">Brown reported</a> that Epstein and his team of powerful lawyers were able to pressure Acosta’s office into giving Epstein an extremely light sentence, in part by threatening to dig into prosecutors’ pasts.</p>
<p id="eVQfP4">In December, Penny Nance, CEO of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, called on Acosta to resign.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonathanvswan</a> breaks another import story. Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/BenSasse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BenSasse</a> for pursuing truth. If <a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHerald?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiamiHerald</a> reports had come out B4 I believe <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> would not hv nominated Acosta. Labor trafficking is often conjoined w/ sex trafficking. I believe <a href="https://twitter.com/SecretaryAcosta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecretaryAcosta</a> should resign</p>— Penny Nance (@PYNance) <a href="https://twitter.com/PYNance/status/1070301995561570304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2018</a>
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<p id="QT2llL">Calls like Nance’s grew more numerous in July, after <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/7/20685023/billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-arrested-minor-sex-trafficking-charges">Epstein’s arrest</a> on new sex trafficking charges directed renewed attention to the dozens of serious allegations against him — and to Acosta’s role. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/alex-acosta-gave-a-pass-to-jeffrey-epstein-years-ago-hes-still-failing-victims-today/2019/07/08/1247e6d8-a1be-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.874f91a7d8d4">Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post</a> reported that under Acosta, the Labor Department was slow-walking the approval of special visas for immigrant survivors of human trafficking, making it harder for those survivors to come forward — and making them more likely to be deported before their paperwork goes through.</p>
<p id="UQCQYd">President Trump, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.apnews.com/10108839f8ad4aa2a9f8ae0fd71fcbb4">praised Acosta</a>, saying, “I’ve known him as being somebody that works so hard and has done such a good job.” But he also said he would look “very closely” at the deal with Epstein.</p>
<p id="sb3H4d">Acosta <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/10/20689416/jeffrey-epstein-alexander-acosta-labor-secretary-deal">defended the deal</a> at a press conference on Wednesday, saying it was law enforcement’s best shot at putting the money manager in jail and putting “the world on notice that he was a sexual predator.” But criticism and <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/10/alex-acosta-letter-jeffrey-epstein/">scrutiny</a> of Acosta’s role continued.</p>
<p id="zboPJo">Acosta’s departure from the Labor Department means he will no longer be in charge of visas for sex trafficking survivors. But for the women who say Epstein abused them, the battle for justice continues. A bail hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday, where a judge will consider whether Epstein will stay in jail awaiting trial or be permitted to stay under <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein.html">house arrest in his Manhattan mansion</a>.</p>
<p id="LOaTaT"><strong>Correction:</strong> An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the CEO of Concerned Women for America. It is Penny Nance.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/12/20688084/alexander-acosta-resigns-jeffrey-epstein-labor-secretaryAnna North2019-04-29T18:13:44-04:002019-04-29T18:13:44-04:00Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein submits his resignation
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<img alt="Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein Announces Law Enforcement Action Related To China" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XhaZeRBLY6JLcZHO2RpV0qFaXwE=/590x0:5318x3546/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63694633/1074452166.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on December 20, 2018. | Alex Wong/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The man who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller is departing now that the investigation has wrapped up.</p> <p id="TTubpg">Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department official who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia investigation, is now, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/9/17900978/rod-rosenstein-resigns-mueller-trump">finally</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/24/17896140/rod-rosenstein-resigns-fired-mueller-trump-russia">officially</a>, stepping down.</p>
<p id="LbQYTV">Rosenstein submitted <a href="https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1122974994030575616">his not exactly subtle resignation letter</a> to the president on April 29, indicating that his last day in office will be May 11. </p>
<p id="tMEIce">“We enforce the law without fear or favor because credible evidence is not partisan, and truth is not determined by opinion polls. We ignore fleeting distractions and focus our attention on the things that matter, because a republic that endures is not governed by the news cycle,” Rosenstein wrote to the president. “We keep the faith, follow the rules, and we always put America first.”</p>
<p id="M6Uqat">Rosenstein’s departure has been anticipated for some time, after reports surfaced earlier this year that he planned <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/9/17900978/rod-rosenstein-resigns-mueller-trump">to leave the administration</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/9/17900978/rod-rosenstein-resigns-mueller-trump">voluntarily</a> following the arrival of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/15/18182143/william-barr-attorney-general-confirmation-hearngs">new Attorney General Bill Barr</a>, who was <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/14/18217009/bill-barr-attorney-general-mueller">confirmed</a> on February 14. That was more than two months ago, and Rosenstein ended up staying on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/24/18279818/mueller-report-attorney-general-summary-conclusions">through the conclusion of the Mueller investigation</a> he once oversaw, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/18/18485552/robert-mueller-report-release-redacted">the publication of the partially redacted</a> report on April 18.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's resignation letter to Trump today — he'll officially leave on May 11.<br><br>"We keep the faith, we follow the rules, and we always put America first." <a href="https://t.co/4DrfQcNFjq">pic.twitter.com/4DrfQcNFjq</a></p>— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1122974994030575616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2019</a>
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<p id="ksvaFA">Rosenstein’s leaving kicks off a new era at the Department of Justice: <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/15/18182143/william-barr-attorney-general-confirmation-hearngs">Barr</a> is bringing on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/20/18233107/jeffrey-rosen-deputy-attorney-general-rod-rosenstein-trump">Jeffrey Rosen</a>, who served as the deputy transportation secretary, to replace Rosenstein as his No. 2. </p>
<p id="Ns0wOt">The legacy Rosenstein leaves behind as deputy attorney general is a complicated one. The deputy AG is usually in charge of running the day-to-day operations at the Department of Justice — an incredibly important job, but not one that frequently makes headlines. </p>
<p id="hwpicw">But when <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/3/2/14794562/jeff-sessions-recuses-trump">Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself</a> from all investigations involving the 2016 presidential campaign in March 2017, the position of the No. 2 official at DOJ suddenly became a lot more interesting. And it got even more so when Rosenstein <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866767">authored a letter in May recommending that President Trump fire FBI Director James Comey</a> and, in the chaos that followed after Trump did so, appointed a special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.</p>
<p id="tevrFl">The Mueller investigation <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18277871/mueller-report-barr-details-timing-release">is now concluded,</a> so it’s somewhat fitting that Rosenstein is leaving the Department of Justice now. He protected the probe and defended its mandate during periods of tumult in the administration and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/26/17616888/rod-rosenstein-impeachment-vote-trump-mueller">against pressure from Republicans in Congress</a>. </p>
<p id="DIBe47">And somehow, Rosenstein — the man overseeing the “witch hunt” Trump so loathed — survived almost two years in the job. Even Rosenstein himself seemed surprised by his ability to leave on his own terms. “The median tenure of a Deputy Attorney General is 16 months,” Rosenstein noted in his resignation letter, “and few serve longer than two years.” </p>
<h3 id="bjPTRw">Rosenstein’s appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller will define his time as DAG</h3>
<p id="BXzxmn">The Senate confirmed Rosenstein as deputy attorney general in April 2017 with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/25/politics/rod-rosenstein-confirmed-deputy-attorney-general/index.html">overwhelming bipartisan support</a>. A career DOJ official, Rosenstein previously served as the US attorney for the District of Maryland, after being appointed by George W. Bush in 2005. He held that position through the end of the Obama administration. </p>
<p id="v8SL5e">About two weeks into Rosenstein’s tenure as deputy attorney general, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/21/17887672/rod-rosenstein-trump-recording-25th-amendment-times">released a memo that Rosenstein had written</a> about Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation. Trump used this memo to justify Comey’s dismissal.</p>
<p id="QKdHPq">Chaos ensued in the days after Comey’s firing, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/9/15601432/trump-fires-james-comey-explained">with speculation</a> that Trump had fired Comey over the intensifying Russia investigation — a concern that only grew after Trump admitted <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/11/president_trumps_full_interview_with_lester_holt.html">in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt</a> that he had been angry about the Russia investigation when he fired Comey.</p>
<p id="OXxEWS">Then on May 17, 2017, Rosenstein made probably the most consequential decision of his tenure: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=rosenstein+memo+special+counsel+may+17&oq=rosenstein+memo+special+counsel+may+17&aqs=chrome..69i57.4495j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">He appointed Robert Mueller</a>, a former FBI director, as special counsel to take over the Russia investigation. </p>
<p id="p041GA">Rosenstein oversaw the investigation from then until late 2018, when <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/7/16013352/trump-jeff-sessions-fired-midterms">Trump forced Sessions out</a> and appointed Sessions’s chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting AG. But even then, Rosenstein reportedly <a href="https://www.wtva.com/content/national/500069721.html">continued to be involved</a> in the day-to-day management of the Mueller investigation.</p>
<p id="Yim1rn">Rosenstein provided critical oversight, including <a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10576825/Rosenstein_letter_to_Mueller.0.pdf">approving Mueller’s investigatory mandate</a> and signing off on major decisions, such as referring the investigation of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen <a href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=cLVtXIL6KqLn_QaLuZzICg&q=rosenstein+signed+off+mueller+michael+cohen+vox&oq=rosenstein+signed+off+mueller+michael+cohen+vox&gs_l=psy-ab.3...105394.107671..107775...0.0..0.258.2227.13j5j2......0....1..gws-wiz.......33i160j35i39j33i299.gcZ7v9TXmPc">to federal prosecutors in Manhattan</a>. </p>
<p id="GrpTYL">Most critically, Rosenstein protected the independence of Mueller’s work against the onslaught of attacks from both Trump and the president’s allies in Congress.</p>
<h3 id="KwOqMQ">Rosenstein is the Trump administration’s ultimate survivor</h3>
<p id="pX6maA">Those battles did not endear Rosenstein to the president and his supporters. The deputy attorney general appeared on the verge of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=rosenstein+fired+april+2018&oq=rosenstein+fired+april+2018&aqs=chrome..69i57.4167j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">getting fired multiple times</a> during his tenure as Trump railed against the Russia investigation and conservative groups <a href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=TLptXLjZIOKGggfKwILwBQ&q=conservative+ad++against+rosenstein&oq=conservative+ad++against+rosenstein&gs_l=psy-ab.3...0.0..2245...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz.NjyE2PyR3K4">attacked Rosenstein</a>. The deputy attorney general also faced an (albeit short-lived) threat of impeachment from House Republicans in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/26/17616888/rod-rosenstein-impeachment-vote-trump-mueller">July 2018</a>. </p>
<p id="RGHpeo">Yet he somehow managed to survive, as did the Russia investigation. It was close, though. In September, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-wear-wire-25th-amendment.html">New York Times published a report </a>that claimed Rosenstein had considered wearing a wire to record Trump and debated recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment against the president in the tumultuous days after Comey’s firing.</p>
<p id="tr4tGi">Rosenstein’s ouster seemed imminent — and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/24/17896140/rod-rosenstein-resigns-fired-mueller-trump-russia">reports circulated</a> that the deputy attorney general had handed in his resignation to the president, leading, once again, to fears over the future of the Mueller probe. </p>
<p id="MmAo2H">But that didn’t happen; Rosenstein stayed on through the 2018 midterm elections and even outlasted Sessions, whom Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/539109386/jeff-sessions-out-as-attorney-general-after-steady-drumbeat-of-criticism-from-tr">pushed out</a> less than 24 hours after the polls closed.</p>
<p id="MfZmyv">Finally, in December, Trump nominated Bill Barr to permanently replace Sessions as attorney general. Rosenstein <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rosenstein-expects-to-leave-justice-department-if-new-attorney-general-is-confirmed/2019/01/09/5ab0431f-74a9-434d-bdb6-fe42be1b7e14_story.html?utm_term=.c5090e19a1ae">reportedly told colleagues</a> that he expected to leave once Barr — who’d likely want to bring in his own team — was confirmed, though Rosenstein didn’t offer a set timeline. Barr was confirmed in February, and that led to a new round of reports that Rosenstein would depart by March, helping Barr transition and then leaving for good.</p>
<p id="dTdWCt">On February 20, the White House announced it would nominate <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/20/18233107/jeffrey-rosen-deputy-attorney-general-rod-rosenstein-trump">Jeffrey Rosen</a> to the deputy attorney general job, though Rosenstein remained in his position. That same day, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/20/18233483/mueller-report-release-trump-russia-investigation-next-week">reports indicated</a> that Mueller’s investigation would be wrapping up imminently.</p>
<p id="3SfCyO">Imminently was a bit of an understatement: Mueller submitted his final report to Bill Barr <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/22/18232813/mueller-report-finished-trump-russia-barr">on March 22.</a> Rosenstein has<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-speech.html"> since defended</a> his handling of the Mueller investigation, firing back at critics of the probe and of his role in it. </p>
<p id="akQZjo">“Today, our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-speech.html">said at an event </a>in the Yale club in New York last Thursday. “But not everybody was happy with my decision, in case you did not notice.”</p>
<p id="0NopJo">The end of Mueller’s investigation — and<a href="https://www.congress.gov/nomination/116th-congress/526"> the submission of Rosen’s nomination</a> to the Senate shortly after that — made clear Rosenstein’s tenure was nearing its end. And next month, it will become official. </p>
<p id="s1savE">Rosenstein held one of the most scrutinized jobs in the Trump administration. His decision to appoint Mueller changed the course of Trump’s presidency. The fallout from the Mueller report is only beginning — but <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18522419/bill-barr-testimony-house-democrats-mueller-report-nadler">Bill Barr</a>, rather than Rosenstein, will be dealing with it. </p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18233085/rod-rosenstein-deputy-attorney-general-resigns-muellerJen Kirby2019-04-08T16:58:06-04:002019-04-08T16:58:06-04:00Secret Service director is the latest casualty in DHS shake-up
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<img alt="Director of the US Secret Service Randolph Alles speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC in October 2018." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cZP9rYXi3V__wojCJk5kb6o6qQY=/84x0:1667x1187/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63373590/GettyImages_1053980516.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Director of the US Secret Service Randolph Alles speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, in October 2018. | AFP/Getty Images/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds</figcaption>
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<p>Randolph Alles is out a day after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen abruptly resigned.</p> <p id="oiH0WD">A day after Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/7/18299585/kirstjen-nielsen-trump-dhs-homeland-security-resign-secretary-new">Kirstjen Nielsen abruptly resigned</a>, the director of the Secret Service is out, too.</p>
<p id="AgXbnw">On Monday, the White House confirmed that <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/person/randolph-d-alles">Randolph “Tex” Alles</a>, whom President Donald Trump appointed as director of the Secret Service in April 2017, would be leaving his post, after <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/randolph-tex-alles-secret-service-director/index.html">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/u-s-secret-service-director-out-n992141">media</a> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-secret-service-director-randolph-alles-leaving-post-11554746842?mod=hp_lead_pos2">outlets</a> reported that he had been ousted. The announcement comes amid a broader shake-up at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and follows the arrest of a Chinese woman who <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/4/18295810/mar-a-lago-china-secret-service-zhang">allegedly breached security at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago</a> resort <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mar-a-lago-intruder-had-cash-and-additional-electronics-in-her-hotel-room-prosecutors-say/2019/04/08/2edd875a-5a22-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html?utm_term=.df1bc23069c3">carrying multiple electronic devices</a>.</p>
<p id="Yob4vC">White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is “thankful” to Alles “for his over 40 years of service to the country.” Alles served for 35 years in the US Marine Corps, retired in 2011, and held multiple positions at US Customs and Border Protection prior to becoming Secret Service director.</p>
<p id="2pviEW">Alles’s ouster is the latest development in personnel changes at DHS. Eileen Sullivan and Maggie Haberman at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/politics/homeland-security-trump-purge.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">the New York Times</a> report that L. Francis Cissna, head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and John Mitnik, DHS’s general counsel, are also headed for the exit. If those departures become official, it will leave the top echelons of the department responsible for the nation’s public security relatively empty.</p>
<p id="pS83hl">Last week, Trump <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/5/18296851/trump-ice-nomination-immigration-vitiello">abruptly</a> withdrew his nomination of acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Ron Vitiello to lead agency permanently. He told reporters he was “going in a tougher direction.” And Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is also under DHS, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/13/18223882/brock-long-fema-resigns-hurricane-maria">stepped down in February</a>.</p>
<p id="0VwHXH">One administration official told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/miller-nielsen-trump-immigration-homeland-security/index.html">CNN</a> that there is a “near-systematic purge happening at the nation’s second-largest national security agency.” There has been <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/07/stephen-miller-trump-immigration-1260431">some reporting</a> that the shake-up is taking place as a result of a push from longtime Trump aide and immigration hawk Stephen Miller.</p>
<p id="9ZKS34">But why Alles, specifically, is being pushed out now is unclear. </p>
<p id="KLK8GV">There are conflicting reports on whether the ouster is related to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/4/18295810/mar-a-lago-china-secret-service-zhang">Secret Service’s arrest of a 32-year-old Chinese woman, Yujing Zhang</a>, in late March at Mar-a-Lago. Zhang was charged with lying to a federal agent and knowingly entering a restricted area after entering the resort and being discovered with four cellphones, a hard drive, a laptop, and a malware-infected USB drive. On Monday, prosecutors <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mar-a-lago-intruder-had-cash-and-additional-electronics-in-her-hotel-room-prosecutors-say/2019/04/08/2edd875a-5a22-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html?utm_term=.b1eeecaba38c">said</a> they found more electronic devices and cash in Zhang’s hotel room.</p>
<p id="ACIeNc">The Secret Service said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/1113265325112528897">statement</a> after the incident that it was Mar-a-Lago, not them, who decides who and who does not get into the property. Trump just last week said that he “could not be happier” with the Secret Service, which has “done a fantastic job from day one.”</p>
<p id="ZEeO0r">CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/randolph-tex-alles-secret-service-director/index.html">reports</a> that Alles’s ouster is not related to the Mar-a-Lago incident, and an official told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/u-s-secret-service-director-out-n992141">NBC News</a> that it “was not based on any single event.” The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/politics/homeland-security-trump-purge.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">Times</a>, however, reports that Trump sought Alles’s resignation “in part” because of the incident.</p>
<p id="tcT8rp">The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/politics/randolph-alles-secret-service.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage">also reported</a> Trump had “soured on” Alles and that the director had been told about 10 days ago to come up with an exit plan for himself and devise a timeline. According to the report, Trump made fun of Alles’s appearance and called him “Dumbo” because of his ears.</p>
<p id="cAuaMV">Alles in an internal memo to the Secret Service <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizLanders/status/1115339039287148545">obtained by Elizabeth Landers of Vice</a> said that contrary to reports, he was not fired. He said was told “weeks ago” by the administration that “transitions in leadership should be expected” across DHS. “It is my sincere regret that I was not able to address the workforce prior to this announcement,” he said.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">A source provides USSS director Alles’ internal memo to the Secret Service: “No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing.’ I assure you that this is not the case...” <a href="https://t.co/qle5Il5FGR">pic.twitter.com/qle5Il5FGR</a></p>— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizLanders/status/1115339039287148545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2019</a>
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<p id="znaL5f">Either way, he’ll be gone soon. Sanders said that Alles would be “leaving shortly,” and Trump has selected James Murray, a career member of the Secret Service, to take over as director in May. </p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="uilDMw">
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https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/8/18300918/secret-service-randolph-alles-kirstjen-nielsen-dhsEmily Stewart2019-04-08T08:30:00-04:002019-04-08T08:30:00-04:00Trump’s possibly illegal designation of a new acting homeland security secretary, explained
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<img alt="Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Human Smuggling At The Border" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L-zVsvneKZfqu-64hIIXhZ0xzCw=/747x0:6720x4480/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63370334/1134062470.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Win McNamee/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>An apparent legal blunder.</p> <p id="fKb914">Sunday night, President Trump announced his intention to designate Kevin McAleenan, the current head of US Customs and Border Protection, as the acting secretary of homeland security after Kirstjen Nielsen’s resignation. </p>
<p id="OILRsC">But legal experts question whether he has the authority to do that.</p>
<p id="o1qoJG">As we’ve seen with earlier Trump vacancies, the president typically has broad latitude to designate any Senate-confirmed official he’d like to serve in an acting role. Previous presidents have typically stuck with fairly intuitive chain of command principles in these situations, and Trump’s tendency to deviate from that norm has <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/21/18105428/matthew-whitaker-legal-challenges-mueller-trump">sparked litigation</a>, but Trump, so far, has always come out ahead. </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">....I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHSgov</a>. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1115011885303312386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2019</a>
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<p id="xltVTV">In designating McAleenan, though, he appears to be on dicier legal footing, according to a number of observers, <a href="https://twitter.com/AJosephOConnell/status/1115024242553151488">including Stanford law professor Anne Joseph O’Connell</a>, an expert on vacancies. </p>
<p id="H8Upq3">The key issue is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/6/113">6 USC §113(g)</a> from the statute governing the Department of Homeland Security, which contains language that overrides the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the law that typically dictates appointing acting officials. The statute states that if an acting secretary is needed because of a vacancy in the secretary of homeland security position, the undersecretary for management becomes the acting secretary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="jyLfk0"><strong>(g)Vacancies</strong></p>
<p id="GPVuKL"><strong>(1)Absence, disability, or vacancy of Secretary or Deputy Secretary</strong></p>
<p id="XUYXky">Notwithstanding chapter 33 of title 5, the Under Secretary for Management shall serve as the Acting Secretary if by reason of absence, disability, or vacancy in office, neither the Secretary nor Deputy Secretary is available to exercise the duties of the Office of the Secretary.</p>
<p id="8SGeve"><strong>(2)Further order of succession</strong></p>
<p id="emUrJK">Notwithstanding chapter 33 of title 5, the Secretary may designate such other officers of the Department in further order of succession to serve as Acting Secretary.</p>
<p id="qPpuUf"><strong>(3)Notification of vacancies</strong></p>
<p id="oMciZd">The Secretary shall notify the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives of any vacancies that require notification under sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5 (commonly known as the “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/topn/federal_vacancies_reform_act_of_1998">Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998</a>”).</p>
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<p id="LZ0nd0">Under this read of the plain language, Claire Grady, the undersecretary for management, is now acting secretary of homeland security, and Trump has no discretion in the matter. </p>
<h3 id="NgMwaq">It’s not clear this is important</h3>
<p id="j2kDc2">Fans of Trump-era legal controversies may recall that we’ve had two bouts of litigation about vacancy designations earlier in the Trump administration: </p>
<ul>
<li id="gY7hxB">When Richard Cordray resigned as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/27/16704796/cfpb-english-mulvaney-trump-cordray">Trump tapped Mick Mulvaney to serve as acting director</a> while Democrats argued the acting job should go to Cordray’s deputy.</li>
<li id="k4rfRF">When Trump fired <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/21/18105428/matthew-whitaker-legal-challenges-mueller-trump">Jeff Sessions, he designed Matthew Whitaker</a> as acting attorney general, thus bypassing Rod Rosenstein and other higher-ranking officials.</li>
</ul>
<p id="roZITr">In both cases, Trump successfully argued that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — with its broad delegation of discretion to the president — is the controlling statute, and that agency-specific language designating a succession order is just a default that the president can override at will. The homeland security case is different because the statutory language specifically designated the undersecretary for management <em>notwithstanding </em>FVRA, suggesting that in this case, the president really has no choice. </p>
<p id="6Su7On">But another big difference in this case is that it’s not clear this is important. </p>
<p id="B6fnbQ">The CFPB litigation was about partisan control of the agency. Cordray was an Obama appointee with a term that extended into Trump’s time in office. Democrats were trying to keep the agency in the hands of a Cordray loyalist rather than turning it over to Trump’s band of merry deregulators. </p>
<p id="jzyNYU">And the DOJ litigation was fundamentally about special counsel Robert Mueller. Rosenstein was known to be protective of the Mueller inquiry — in fact, he appointed Mueller in the first place — and Trump bypassing him in favor of a lightly qualified loyalist was seen as an effort to gain control over Mueller. </p>
<p id="CpHq8P">In the case of McAleenan versus Grady, by contrast, there are no particularly obvious policy stakes. They are both more or less homeland security professionals (his background is in airport stuff, hers in the Coast Guard) who were tapped for political positions by John Kelly and presumably align well enough with Trump philosophically to still be around in important jobs. </p>
<p id="YFyoDt">Even to the extent that there <em>are</em> policy differences between them, there’s no equivalent to the special kind of Mueller oversight role or big question about which party runs an agency in play. </p>
<p id="xNLfjX">No matter who serves as acting secretary, it’s going to be Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security — for better or worse.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/8/18299762/kevin-mcaleenan-claire-grady-acting-dhs-secretaryMatthew Yglesias2019-04-07T18:46:02-04:002019-04-07T18:46:02-04:00Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s resignation, explained
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<img alt="DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5IDmVM0XT-lNNe7pFc_c8UwOCIY=/0x0:3000x2250/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63369393/1074465570.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Mark Wilson/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Nielsen was the most aggressive DHS secretary in history. It wasn’t enough for Trump.</p> <p id="Xll69V">Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned Sunday night after a relatively short tenure as arguably the most aggressive secretary in the department’s short history — a stint that will most likely be remembered for the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/8/17327512/sessions-illegal-immigration-border-asylum-families">“zero tolerance” prosecution policy</a> of late spring and early summer 2018 that resulted in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/11/18240136/family-separation-news-lawsuit-reunite">separation of thousands of families</a> attempting to cross at the US-Mexico border.</p>
<p id="b8GGbx">But having the most hawkish DHS secretary in memory appears to not have been enough for Trump, who is enraged over the number of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/1/18290443/aid-central-america-mexico-guatemala-immigration-border">Central American families and asylum seekers </a>coming into the United States.</p>
<p id="9u3acr">Trump’s ongoing anger already led to the abrupt withdrawal of the nomination of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/5/18296851/trump-ice-nomination-immigration-vitiello">acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Ron Vitiello</a> on Thursday night. Friday morning, the president told reporters that he wanted to go in a “tougher direction.” </p>
<p id="uEhwVb">Nielsen resigned after a conversation with the president Sunday afternoon, making clear that the “tougher direction” is extending to a new DHS secretary. Kevin McAleenan, the head of Customs and Border Protection, will serve as acting DHS secretary until a formal successor is nominated.</p>
<p id="Q5H7cP">With nearly 100,000 migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents along the US-Mexico border in March, Trump is ruminating angrily and obsessively over immigration, riffing in speeches about telling migrants “we’re full” and “go back.”</p>
<p id="7FXtnG">Nielsen couldn’t make that happen, because it’s impossible. The US can’t, even with a wall, physically prevent the entry of unauthorized immigrants to the US. And once on US soil, they have certain rights — including the right to request asylum.</p>
<p id="eddcRT">Kirstjen Nielsen has done more than any of her predecessors to crack down on immigration. And with Trump’s Friday comments about a “tougher” direction, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that Nielsen is the first DHS secretary to leave because the president thinks she hasn’t done enough.</p>
<h3 id="bYYBuI">Nielsen was the most aggressive immigration hawk in DHS history. Here’s what she did.</h3>
<p id="7EKfq3">To Trump’s critics, Nielsen will likely be remembered for presiding over the widespread separation of children from their parents at the US-Mexico border in late spring and early summer 2018, under a “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting first-time border crossers for illegal entry.</p>
<p id="ahOyCu">Most of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/17/18186773/families-children-separated-trump-thousands">more than 2,700 families</a> who were separated when a federal judge ordered reunification in late June 2018 have since been reunited, though arguments continue about what to do with the unknown number of families who weren’t initially covered by the 2018 order because the children had already been taken from government custody and placed with sponsors (usually relatives) in the US.</p>
<p id="LNi2BN">But viewing Nielsen’s tenure through the lens of family separation — the rare policy on which Trump backed down instead of doubling down — risks drawing precisely the wrong conclusion. She isn’t leaving because she was too tough on immigrants for Trump. She’s leaving less than 72 hours after Trump said he wanted to go in a “tougher direction” with his immigration policy.</p>
<p id="zNRtqB">The question is whether Trump means simply rhetorically tougher or whether he is genuinely in denial about the reality that Nielsen was, in terms of policy, as tough as he is likely to get.</p>
<p id="WEvCOQ">Under Nielsen, the Department of Homeland Security has taken several unprecedented steps to crack down on asylum and migration at the southern border. Some of them have been held up in court; others remain in effect:</p>
<ul>
<li id="e00TSQ">
<strong>“Zero tolerance,” the policy that created family separation: </strong>Nielsen signed the memo endorsing zero tolerance, and acknowledging that family separation would be the ultimate consequence. (Documents later uncovered by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-admin-weighed-targeting-migrant-families-speeding-deportation-children-n958811">Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)’s office</a> showed that in December 2017, administration officials were arguing for zero tolerance <em>because </em>it would result in family separation.) She didn’t pilot the practice — that happened under predecessor John Kelly — but she instituted its widespread use.</li>
<li id="IAeSSR">
<strong>Sending troops to the border: </strong>Nielsen formally made the request for the deployment of thousands of National Guard units and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18183439/mexico-us-border-military-caravan-migrant-trump">active-duty military to the border</a> (many for no obvious purpose), and for billions in emergency funds for the construction of Trump’s border wall. </li>
<li id="hQBUOi">
<strong>“Hardening” ports: </strong>She presided over this policy, in late 2018, that culminated in Border Patrol agents firing tear gas canisters into Mexico during a migrant march, hurting children and parents.</li>
<li id="9MhGyI">
<strong>Attempting to block migrants who enter illegally from seeking asylum: </strong>Nielsen presided over the Trump administration’s effort to ban people who crossed into the US between ports of entry — committing the misdemeanor of illegal entry — from seeking asylum. That ban, while <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18102879/asylum-trump-lawsuit-judge">quickly put on hold by a judge</a>, would have affected the overwhelming majority of current migrants.</li>
</ul>
<p id="g13vOW">At the same time, DHS routinized the practice of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18089048/border-asylum-trump-metering-legally-ports">limiting the number of people allowed to present for asylum legally<em> </em>at ports of entry</a>.</p>
<p id="fps4Ol">Nielsen also appears to be the architect of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/5/18244995/migrant-protection-protocols-border-asylum-trump-mexico">Migrant Protection Protocols</a> (also known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/5/18244995/migrant-protection-protocols-border-asylum-trump-mexico">“Remain in Mexico”</a>) under which hundreds of Central American asylum seekers have been sent back to Mexico to wait for their U.S. immigration court dates. The policy, which rolled out slowly in January but has expanded rapidly in the last few weeks, is the closest thing the Trump administration has done to fulfilling Trump’s threat of “We’re full, go back.” </p>
<p id="nphcY9">And Nielsen has presided over new records in immigration detention. Despite Congress telling DHS, repeatedly, to reduce detention to stay within its budget, the number of detained immigrants has grown nearly 25 percent — from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/12/18220323/immigration-detention-beds-congress-cap">slightly over 40,000 in fall 2018 </a>to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-is-detaining-50000-people-a-new-all-time-high">50,000 in early 2019</a>.</p>
<h3 id="2LE3Zw">Trump wants a crackdown — but it’s not clear what the next secretary could do</h3>
<p id="AOdFuJ">Nielsen’s tenure as secretary was defined not only by these actions, but by the force that motivated all of them: the building frustration and rage of Donald Trump at the fact that people continued to enter the US.</p>
<p id="9oyaX0">During the first few months of 2017, apprehensions at the US-Mexico border plummeted from what were already historically low levels of border crossings. Trump took personal credit and held it up as proof that all it took was a tough-talking president to secure the border once and for all.</p>
<p id="6C7Rzw">He was half-right, and he’s been bedeviled by the other half, the “once and for all” part, ever since. Because Trump decided to measure the success of his immigration policy in whether or not people were trying to enter the US at all — not in how many were being deported or allowed to stay, or anything else — he set himself up for failure.</p>
<p id="iKsSmB">It really does appear that the early 2017 lull in apprehensions was a reaction to Trump taking office. But people both within and outside the government understood at the time that the absurdly quiet border of Trump’s first months wouldn’t last, because for a year — through Kelly’s tenure and the beginning of Nielsen’s — tough talk was all the Trump administration had to offer.</p>
<p id="TppmZI">This wasn’t a failure of political will on Kelly’s part. It was a belated reckoning with reality: The low-hanging fruit of deterrent immigration policies had been picked a long time ago.</p>
<p id="KhUrsP">US immigration law is a balance between the desire to minimize unauthorized entry into the United States and the desire to protect vulnerable people who may be fleeing harm and persecution. Both US and international law prohibit the US from refusing entry to people who are in danger of prosecution in their home countries; both US statute and court settlements offer extra due-process protections to asylum seekers, children, and families.</p>
<p id="vzs6wf">Trump’s anger at Nielsen is really anger at this delicate balance. For the past year, the US has tried to do as much as it can to push policy toward enforcement over protection, with the political and legal resistance that might be expected when tough problems are met with blunt solutions.</p>
<p id="OG51bb">But its ideas — at least the ones that haven’t yet been struck down in court — haven’t been enough. </p>
<p id="rz2p7e">The administration hasn’t yet been able to find a way to guarantee that someone who comes to the US without papers has no chance of staying. Short of that, no policy crackdown will persuade someone desperately fleeing her home country that it’s not worth it to try to come to America. </p>
<p id="3z1yvf">And mass deterrence — fewer people getting caught by Border Patrol because fewer people want to set foot in the US without papers — is the only outcome Trump has set himself up to accept. </p>
<p id="OCTMBo">Trump’s new favorite tropes — the idea that the US needs to “get rid of judges” (which doesn’t reflect immigration hawks’ actual frustrations with the asylum system) and should just start telling migrants they can’t come in — simply don’t reflect a policy that a future homeland security secretary could<em> </em>put into effect. </p>
<p id="m9X8VM">If Trump wants a DHS secretary who looks the part of a law enforcement official, McAleenan — a career border officer — is a better fit. If he wants someone who can talk tough in front of the cameras, McAleenan might not<em> </em>be a good fit for exactly the same reasons; he hasn’t been as willing to blame either Democrats or migrants themselves for the current situation at the border as other Trump officials, including Nielsen. </p>
<p id="lrgZ41">Trump could nominate someone more rhetorically aggressive, like occasional adviser Kris Kobach, but he could face an uphill battle in the US Senate.</p>
<p id="mk7XDo">But if Trump wants a DHS secretary who will stop people from setting foot on US soil, none of these options will satisfy him. Neither will anyone else. </p>
<p id="6Q8VnC"></p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/7/18299585/kirstjen-nielsen-trump-dhs-homeland-security-resign-secretary-newDara Lind