Resignation, funding, and refusal to recuse - oh my!
- Katy McQuillan
- Dec 21, 2018
- 2 min read
So many actions being taken, so many moves happening, it's so imperative to pay close attention to what is happening, who is getting mad, and who has America's best of intentions.
On Thursday, the House passed the 5.7 billion dollar budget for the southern border wall that President has spent the biggest portion of the fall season trying to get approved.
There has been verbal war between the Democrats of Washington to get this wall pushed forward. Although it must get approved by the Senate, I am optimistic we will get this funding considering the Democrats have the House and the Senate is primarily republican.
Department of Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned from the administration, which will take effect February 29, 2019.
According to The Guardian, "Mattis had doggedly stressed the importance of allies, and of Nato in particular, in the fact of outspoken skepticism from the president. His resignation letter emphasized that theme as well as the need to remain "resolute and unambiguous" in the approach to China and Russia."
This event comes just 24 hours after the president announced victory over ISIS and he will bringing troops home from Syria. "There are currently 15,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan," according to Fox News. "The potential maneuver would involve more than 3,000 troops getting pulled out."
If this resignation comes as a shock to you, don't be alarmed for two reasons:
1) Government officials rarely stay for the entire duration of the presidential administration they are hired to serve in.
2) The President told Leslie Stahl in his latest 60 Minutes interview that "many have left and others would be leaving soon," and then went on to say that, "Mattis might be a democrat."
Now, before anyone gets too upset, let me be clear that of course Mattis's political ideology doesn't necessarily have anything to do with whether he executes the mission of his position accurately.
In his letter of resignation, Mattis mentioned that the president "has the right to have a secretary whose views align more with his."
Mattis' resignation comes after a long line of "legends" in the Trump administration - not to forget that United Nations Ambassador, Nikki Haley's resignation comes in a short few days. Chief of Staff John Kelly also submitted his resignation last week or so.
People leave. There is an agenda. Some are for the agenda and some are not. There are various reasons for various administration departures.
We thank Secretary Mattis for his unwavering and iconic service both in the Marine Corps and in this administration.
Acting Attorney General, Matt Whitaker, of Iowa, "will not recuse himself from overseeing the Russia probe, despite mounting pressure from Democrats who cite his hostility toward Robert Mueller and his investigation," according to Fox News.
Senior Justice Department officials have confirmed that there are "no conflicts of interest regarding his oversight to the investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 president election," according to Fox News.
Odd week of news with interesting timing.
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