President Donald Trump has started to dismiss some of his own picks in moves that critics say show the chaos in his administration but which the White House says reflects the president's devotion to implementing the agenda he was elected to carry out, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.
The latest such move was this past week, when the White House said it was firing Trump's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just one month after she was confirmed by the Senate. The White House explained that she wasn't aligned with the president's vision.
This past week's firing followed ousters at several other agencies, including the head of the Internal Revenue Service and two top Justice Department antitrust officials who were removed from their roles after clashing with senior officials at the agency.
Max Stier, who leads the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that tracks hiring and firing, commented on the large number of dismissals of those Trump himself hired by saying that "no administration has seen more chaos in its leadership ranks than the Trump administration other than Trump one. He begins by being right, and if anyone challenges his worldview, they need to go away."
But Brad Todd, a Republican strategist with connections to the Trump administration, told The Wall Street Journal that the firings are part of the president trying to implement an aggressive agenda.
"The voters pick one person to lead the executive branch and that means that person gets to choose every other person," Todd said.
When he entered office, Trump chose for his new administration officials vetted for loyalty, and hasn't removed any Cabinet secretaries yet.
The White House has been run more effectively than his first administration, allies contend. White House officials said Trump has only been dissatisfied with one cabinet secretary, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has fortified her position with the president in recent weeks by focusing on pursuing other perceived foes.
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said that Trump "assembled the best and brightest administration in history to deliver on his promise to ‘Make America Great Again' from securing the border to delivering the largest middle-class tax cuts in history to restoring law and order on our streets."
White House officials explain that the firings stem from various reasons, including officials not aligning with the overall vision of his second term.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.