It’s deja vu all over again. Some reports claim Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller probe, has resigned; others, that he’s refused to resign and expects to be fired.
First, we got news of Rosenstein’s purported resignation.
Then came reports that Rosenstein expected to be fired and/or was refusing to resign.
Why does it matter?
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act is a big deal and, potentially, a significant barrier for Trump.
After Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, the White House claimed Shulkin had quit. Trump’s ability to name a successor hinged on Shulkin’s having resigned, versus having been removed, under the FVRA.
Trump should have nominated Shulkin’s deputy, per plaintiffs; instead he tapped Robert Wilkie, the Department of Defense’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, to serve as acting secretary.
The natural answer here is to allow next-in-line Solicitor General Noel Francisco to take over from Rosenstein. Trump may not even want to pick anyone else: Francisco’s also a GOP operative and Trump appointee.
As Business Insider reports, Francisco is a former Bush official who since then has worked at Jones Day, which is second only to Goldman Sachs as a source of Trump appointees. But most importantly for Trump, and for everyone else, Francisco’s history both in court and in his statements shows that he’s deeply supportive of unchecked executive power and highly disdainful toward the intelligence community.
Stay tuned.