These stories to me all miss the point. His actions are deliberate yet directed by others. He is simply the unassailable public face mouthpiece.
What you said is true. And he is instructed, at some point of each crisis, to do the bare minimum needed in an attempt to save face, so that the Kool-Aid drinkers can talk it up to the MSM about the fact that he’s trying to solve things, but not for the GOP and budget cuts, it would all be under control.