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How do you know that the tactics you are suggesting haven’t been tried and failed in THIS WH?

What senior person in the White House was fired day 1 prior to this?

The days of leaning on people to get them to be effective in ANY organization — to the extent they ever existed — are over. It is way too easy to find another job, to start a business, to contract, to do whatever else than work in a situation where the new guy, even if he has skins on the wall, comes in and starts demanding things.

The problem with your analysis is that you're applying standard corporate strategies to a military or pseudo-military organization where equivalent options for the terminated aren't readily available. They can't just leave and "do better or just as well" elsewhere. There's only one White House - one shot at being that close to national power and having a chance to leave a mark on history, however small your part may be.

I’ve only fired people for dishonesty or unprofessional interpersonal behavior (i.e. workplace disputes that got out of hand). Even then only a few. Firing people is expensive and potentially dangerous to your organization.

What about incompetence/attitude/poor fit? During the initial assault in the Iraq War, the command elements of the First Marine Division came to believe that one of the maneuver regiment task forces -- nearly 6000 Marines total -- was not being sufficiently aggressive. The regimental commander was urged to go faster, but they still weren't satisfied. So, he was fired, right then, in the middle of assault phase, and replaced by someone more aggressive.

Should they not have replaced him unless he was "dishonest" or engaged in "unprofessional personal behavior"? What's wrong with "we're firing you because you are not performing up to our expectations, and we don't have the luxury of shipping you off for training in the hope that you'll improve?

What I think you are failing to consider is that a new White House is not a long-established organization with a distinct culture, well-understood processes, and business operations that will basically continue to run just fine while you get your feet wet. Each is basically created from scratch, except for some long-term low-level staff who may have an agenda different from the new Administration.

In that type of situation, the two most important things to do are 1) make sure you have the right people in the right jobs, and 2) ensure you quickly establish the work culture/environment you want. Mooch was the wrong guy and needed to go. The backbiting/infighting among the staff -- which they all already knew was wrong but chose to do anyway -- was excessive. When people know the rules but are violating them anyway because they do not believe there are any consequences, they need to be disabused of that notion as rapidly as possible.

Everyone is not salvageable. In something as unique and important as the White House, there simply isn't time to go slow.