Trump's fear of midterm blowout puts him under the gun to shake up Cabinet quickly: report
Donald Trump's "no scalps" doctrine is officially dead. The White House is now actively discussing the removal of multiple Cabinet officials — and the pace is about to dramatically accelerate.
According to The Atlantic's Ashley Parker and Sarah Fitzpatrick, Trump administration insiders confirm that "there are active discussions about others leaving the administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer." The timing remains uncertain, but the direction is clear: more firings are coming.
The reversal is striking. Trump had explicitly banned Cabinet removals before the midterms, fearing Democratic attacks and media narratives of chaos. He viewed firings as concessions to his enemies. But the Iran war has destroyed that calculus.
Trump's collapsing political support has forced a brutal calculation: if he's going to fire people, he needs to do it before the Senate potentially turns Democratic in November. Once Democrats control the chamber, confirmation of replacements becomes nearly impossible.
A Trump confidant revealed the cynical logic: the president was emboldened by positive reactions to Kristi Noem's removal and saw that momentum as justification to move against Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Bondi's firing crystallized a grim reality about serving Trump: "No one can succeed in this job. Why would anyone want this job?" asked a White House insider. The answer: only someone with "unbridled ambition" would pursue it.
Despite the attorney general role being "among the most thankless in the Trump administration," there's no shortage of candidates circling. Alina Habba, Trump's former personal lawyer, and Jeanine Pirro, now Trump's U.S. attorney for D.C., are actively jockeying for the position at Mar-a-Lago. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah are also in the mix, according to reports.
When pressed on the timing of Bondi's removal, a White House official offered a non-answer: there was no particular "rhyme or reason," just ongoing conversations that led to a mutual decision.
"Ultimately, he was talked out, and she was talked out," the official said.
Translation: the decision was inevitable, the method was brutal, and there are more names on the list.