If President Donald Trump pulls off another surprise election victory, there is likely to be a Cabinet purge of those who have not entirely bought in, doing more damage than producing for the agenda, sources told Politico.
Those most on the hook are those who have contradicted the president on public health, intelligence, national security, and the Justice Department, per the report.
"I can only imagine the score-settling Trump would undertake if he won," a Republican close to the White House told Politico.
The FBI, CIA, and Pentagon are among the targets for turnover, along with public health officials and national security operatives in the Trump-rebuked "deep state."
The Trump administration has already had a tumultuous first term as only seven of 23 Cabinet-level positions have lasted all four years.
"There has been a lot of turnover in the Cabinet, but the power has always been concentrated in the White House the whole time," a Republican close to the White House told Politico. "The nucleus of the White House will remain status quo, while there will be changes on the periphery."
Among the leading candidates for departures are:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Robert Redfield.
- National Institutes of Health's Francis Collins.
- FBI Director Chris Wray.
- CIA Director Gina Haspel.
- Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
"We have no personnel announcements at this time, nor would it be appropriate to speculate about changes after the election or in a second term," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement this week.
Trump had already reshuffled after the 2018 midterms, including tweet-canning Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as Politico noted.
"If Trump wins, he will feel vindicated and liberated, he will stack his Cabinet even more with loyalists," Trump critic and Obama administration veteran Chris Lu told Politico. "It sends government in a pretty dangerous direction."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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