The rupture between Stephen Miller and DHS could prove to be a major breaking point for the administration.”
Andrew Bates, who had the same job as Schultz in former President Joe Biden’s White House, agreed “it would be in Trump’s political interest to fire Stephen Miller.”
“The oldest president in history got suckered into making ICE a secret police force for some basket case loser who acts like Sid from Toy Story,” Bates told the Washington Examiner of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Miller. “The result is the worst poll numbers for any modern president and the most economic pessimism in 12 years.”
“These leaks suggest staff are feeling real pressure as governing gets harder and the midterms get closer. People are on edge about political missteps and how they could play in tight races.”
To that end, Trump’s average approval rating this month dipped to its lowest point of his second term, 42.2%, and matched his highest disapproval, 55.6%.
Meanwhile, Democrats have an average
5 percentage point advantage in generic congressional ballot polling, per the same polling aggregator.
Trump’s second administration has been less leaky than his first, but it has simultaneously been tougher on leakers.
Trump this week, for example, sued the
Internal Revenue Service and
Treasury Department for $10 billion after they did not protect the president’s tax information between 2018 and 2020.
In addition, the
FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home last week as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor who allegedly helped her cover the federal government workforce and the
Department of Government Efficiency.
Those developments coincide with other leaks, including a report the White House was frustrated with
Transportation Secretary
Sean Duffy for campaigning for his son-in-law's congressional bid during last year’s government shutdown. There are also leaks that Trump has been complaining about Attorney General
Pam Bondi for being “weak” and “ineffective” after he publicly implored her to prosecute his political opponents, such as former FBI Director
James Comey and New York Attorney General
Letitia James.
