Exactly right. All “Obama holdovers” are not political appointees but career bureaucrats who were there under Bush, etc.
You cannot just fire them. Firing a government non-political appointee is very, very difficult, as Milton Friedman once showed in which a BAD secretary went through almost 100 steps before they could actually terminate her. There is no evidence that these people are either incompetent or in any way obstructing Trump.
Second, it amazes me that George Washington seemed to manage just fine with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton-—exactly as far apart as Bannon & McMaster-—in his administration, and Lincoln worked with 5-6 cabinet appointees who strongly disliked him and all thought they were smarter than him. Yet both were terrifically successful. And Trump somehow isn’t capable of getting advice that isn’t 100% MAGA? He can’t deal with it? Give me a break.
Thanks for continuing to drill in this point here on FR.
I remember in the 1980s there being a similar preoccupation with the worry that Reagan had to be protected from his non-conservative cabinet. The mantra was “Let Reagan be Reagan”.
The concern was completely absurd then as it is now.
More to the point, it was a sad display of contempt from some who claimed to be Reagan’s supporters, but knew nothing about him. They thought he was weak.
Trump and Reagan both ascended to the presidency in political environments so hostile to their world views, that any doubts about their resolve are simply ridiculous.
Concern about “bad influences” from dissenting Trump cabinet members is the height of absurdity.