The dilemma of Trump appointees – the law or the president?



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They can respect the law or work for Donald Trump. It is often simply impossible to do both.

CNN's reports clearly indicate that Nielsen also lost her job because she ended up believing that Trump's wild impulse on immigration – an issue he considered crucial for his re-election in 2020 – threatened the security of America and could have been against the law. .

Nielsen is not the first senior cabinet official to lose his career after being struck by the vision that Trump had on his own – nor his instinct to raise largely unexplainable candidates, such as as Stephen Miller, the domestic policy advisor, or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. .

In their way, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former FBI Director, James Comey, and even former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, spiritual father of a great part of the immigration policy of the administration, have suffered the same fate.

Unlike the president, these officials eventually came to the conclusion that the Constitution, the rule of law and the standards of democratic governance made certain Trump behaviors unacceptable.

The departure of Nielsen, who was accompanied by a raking at the White House against his department, which also represented the director of the secret services, sends a signal that Trump is ready to do everything necessary to stem the crisis on the border Mexican-American, who is threatening to lay his vows to stem the flow of migrants from Central America.

This will be good news for Trump supporters, who appreciate the fact that he bypasses Washington's establishment and overwhelmingly support his tough line on immigration and warnings that the United States are besieged by a tide of criminals.

But the president's desire to honor the faith of his immigration base finally made Nielsen's position unsustainable.

Cross the legal limits

Trump pushed to close the border of El Paso, ordered administrative authorities to resume family separations and agents to not admit migrants
CNN's Jake Tapper reported a series of clashes that led to Nielsen's ouster Sunday, revealing a president demanding that he be obeyed his orders, even if they overstepped the boundaries of the law.

Trump "unleashed" demanded the closure of the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, at the end of March, when Nielsen told him that it was a dangerous idea, according to one participant at the time. A meeting at the White House.

Trump has also lobbied to restore and intensify the separations of parents and undocumented migrant children at the border, despite the illegal practice of courts and bipartisan and international indignation.

The recently-fledged Ministry of Homeland Security may well adopt a policy that has been discussed for months, which would give border migrants a difficult decision: to remain united as a family in detention or to be separated during as the parents judicial process of immigration, a senior administration official said Jim Acosta of CNN.

The president also asked border officials last week to stop letting asylum seekers into the country, forcing officials to wisely defeat his instructions after he left the room, Tapper reported.

CNN also announced on Monday that Trump regretted not having sworn to close the southern border, despite the fact that this could lead to an economic disaster for many Americans.

As the last days of Nielsen's term ended, it was Miller, perhaps the only political figure in importance to Trump's right on immigration, who had organized a sweep to overthrow the most senior leaders of the Nielsen Department.

Miller is now responsible for all issues related to immigration and the border, according to CNN's Abby Phillip.

His rise is just one of the fronts of the war between Trump's inner circle and the infrastructure of permanent government that the president has pledged to disrupt.

Trump has, in recent months, removed the irritating checks on his power from the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice.

Defense Secretary James Mattis left after being shocked by the shocking announcement of Trump's withdrawal of Syrian troops after being considered an "adult in the room" for much of the first two years mandate of the president.

Trump's rhetorical onslaught on the Federal Reserve is getting tougher with an attempt to put real believers, such as Stephen Moore and Herman Cain, on his board, raising doubts about to the independence of the most powerful central bank in the world.

On Tuesday, another key figure in Trump's reshuffle will be the subject of a thorough review at Capitol Hill.

Democratic lawmakers may question Attorney General William Barr on claims that he was named solely because he had written a note to the Justice Department to argue that the case of obstruction Special advocate Robert Mueller was legally flawed.
When Mueller ended his investigation last month, Barr wrote to Congress saying that the special advocate had not yet determined whether Trump had prevented justice from obstructing justice – but Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, had decided that there was not enough evidence to support such an assertion.

Barr has not yet released the full report so that members of Congress can form their own opinion.

"Acting" secretaries reinforce Trump's power

How hard on the border pushed Nielsen

Elsewhere in the Trump government, a cabinet made up of acting secretaries in key positions – who often lack relevant experience, authority or independent power – seems ill-prepared to resist the president.

"I like a little" play, "Trump told the press early in the year, without hiding the lure of the heavyweight cabinet." That gives me more flexibility. "

The turmoil in the administration seems to go beyond Trump's efforts to consolidate to the fullest of his power.

The departure of Nielsen, along with other government figures, also seemed motivated by the desire to eliminate all voices that the president did not want to hear.

One of the benefits that benefit world dictators so well that Trump admires is that they do not have to endure dissent.

In the democratic context of the US government, the president now seems to be trying to create a similar chamber of echoes.

Officials who spoke to CNN to describe Trump's attitude towards the government and his current mood are now worn with chilling words with an authoritarian lineage, such as "purging" and "misplacing" staff.

According to numerous reports, Nielsen would have frequently tried to explain to the President that his radical immigration demands were dangerous, impossible or unlawful.

In addition to CNN reports, the New York Times wrote that Trump called Nielsen every morning to demand "clearly illegal" actions, such as stopping all asylum claims.

Nielsen is now one of the former members appointed by Trump who discovered that the president's radical beliefs and his vision of how to use his power came up against legal or ethical constraints.

Tillerson, for example, said last year that he often had to prevent Trump from stumbling over his borders.

"Very often, the president would say:" Here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it, "Tillerson told former CBS presenter, Bob Schieffer.

"And I should tell him," Mr. Speaker, I understand what you want to do, but you can not do it that way. It violates the law. It violates the treaty, "said Tillerson.

Comey testified before Congress that he felt uncomfortable when Trump attempted to establish a "favoritism relationship" in violation of the invisible wall between the presidency and the Department of Justice and Justice. asked him to be flexible with his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.

The president often protested against the sessions because they complied with his legal obligations and withdrew from the investigation on Russia.

And Kelly said his job was often to explain to Trump the limits of his authority under the law.

But the president never ordered him to do anything illegal, Kelly told the Los Angeles Times during an interview.

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