After the sessions, who will Trump be next?

Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have been the first Trump Cabinet member to serve after the mid-term elections – but he is unlikely to be the last.

Several members of the Trump Cabinet and their key collaborators are on the ropes and could be expelled by the end of the year in a dramatic shake-up that could reshape the character of his administration – but create new political headaches for the president .

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Among these are the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, whom Trump privately declared he wanted to dismiss for his alleged weakness in border security. Trump spoke of replacing Nielsen with Kris Kobach, a right-wing immigration hawk who lost his candidacy for Kansas on Tuesday, though he privately acknowledged that Kobach would have trouble getting confirmation from the Senate . Another name that has recently been debated is Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a long-time friend and ally of the president.

Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, is also the subject of an investigation by an inspector general. Trump acknowledged at a press conference held after Wednesday's election that he was trying to qualify as a victory round after his party's loss of control by the House of Representatives, which he "examined" the charges against him. We'll probably have an idea about it in about a week, "he said. In the past, Trump privately called Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who drove a horse named Tonto to his 2017 swearing-in ceremony, one of his favorite members of his cabinet.

In weighing the fate of officials like Nielsen and Zinke, Trump will be torn between his desire to throw people he does not like or that he deems unhelpful, and the prospect of layoffs collective and potentially hideous Senate confirmation struggles, according to several White House and Trump aides.

There is also the problem of recruiting replacements. "Everyone wants to work in the White House," Trump told the press conference. "It's a warm white house." In fact, Trump has often struggled to find job candidates, a problem that could be aggravated now that Democrats in the House will be subject to extensive investigations.

This tension animated the internal debates at the White House over the departure of Sessions, who, after enduring months of abuse at the presidency, said in a letter to Trump that he was resigning at the "request" of the president . Until Wednesday morning, Sessions was not aware. plans to replace him with his chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who will act as "interim" Attorney General without the need for Senate confirmation. The ability to avoid a potentially bloody battle for Senate confirmation was a key factor in Whitaker's selection, White House officials said. Trump plans to appoint a permanent replacement, such as Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who has already been confirmed by the Senate.

Another vacant post is already on the Trump Plateau: the post of ambassador to the United Nations that will be vacant after the departure of Nikki Haley at the end of the year. According to a senior administration official, Heather Nauert, a former Fox News host turned state department spokeswoman who Trump described as "excellent" last week, said that She was "seriously examined".

Nauert's supporters and detractors, however, questioned his experience and the possibility of winning confirmation even in a friendly GOP Senate. Nauert is also not the first choice of John Bolton as a national security advisor, but he became the leader after Trump's first choice, former Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell, retired from the race. Trump said last week that he "would probably make a decision" on the post by the end of the week.

Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is another internal promotion candidate who, according to someone familiar with the discussions, could replace Trump's 87-year-old trade secretary, Trump. Trump called Ross "past his heyday".

Trump played down talks on a shakeup on Wednesday. "Many administrations make changes after mid-term," Trump said. "I will say that for the most part, I am very happy with this Cabinet."

One of the biggest issues is the fate of Defense Secretary James Mattis, whom Trump recently called "a kind of democrat". He then affirmed his support for the retired General of the Marine Corps, but not before casting a veil over his military leader. Are Pentagon officials prepared for Mattis?

At the same time, Trump privately recognized the limits of his power of change. As he had done with Sessions, Trump has long regarded Nielsen as a disloyal, thanks in part to his services within the George W. Bush administration. Trump's allies also view the two as a global bargain, assuming that if the White House's chief of staff, John Kelly, is sacked or resigns, Nielsen will do the same.

But Trump told his associates that he knew Kobach would face a difficult battle of confirmation and that dismissing one of the three female members of his cabinet would be disastrous the day after an election when Republicans would have fought against voters .

The gender factor is one of the reasons he has expressed his interest in Florida, Bondi, a longtime ally, and why he likes the idea of ​​sending Nauert to the UK.

Then there's Kelly's eternal question, which Trump has been complaining about for months.

Before the mid-session, the administration officials said they expect Kelly to leave by the end of the year. During an election night at the White House, where televisions showed four cable channels on a screen divided into quadrants, the chief of staff spent the evening in front of his boss and had no visible interaction with the president, the first, or members of the Trump family, according to someone in the room. But his long and cold relationship with the president has not changed recently, said a former official, noting that Kelly could leave tomorrow or in 12 months, as he had been doing almost since the beginning of his tenure.

Asked Wednesday on the future of Kelly, Trump was resolutely without commitment.

"I have not heard of John Kelly," Trump told the press conference. "People are leaving."