The United States has been stuck in the war in Iran for two months, gasoline prices are soaring, polls show a drop in Donald Trump's popularity, and with just over six months until legislative elections that could change control of Congress, nerves are on edge within the administration.
After the dismissal of Kristi Noem, the head of immigration agencies like ICE, and the even more eloquent firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi, at least half a dozen top officials are under heavy scrutiny, and speculations in Washington suggest that some could fall in the coming weeks.
Kash Patel: Charlie Kirk, hockey, and alcohol
The first on the list is Kash Patel, the always controversial FBI director. The reasons are many. His number 2, podcaster Dan Bongino, has already resigned and returned to streaming after constant clashes over the 'Epstein case' and the fury of the MAGA movement. Patel, responsible for firing dozens of agents, was exposed during the investigation of Charlie Kirk's murder and other important cases where he rushed and provided incorrect information for the sake of the spotlight.
In addition, he had been exposed for providing official protection to his singer girlfriend and for his frequent trips on the organization's private plane to Las Vegas. Or for attending the Olympic Games in Milan to watch the ice hockey final, his great obsession, and celebrating with beer in the locker room with the players. But a recent lengthy report by The Atlantic was the final blow.
In it, the magazine claims that Patel, with serious alcohol consumption problems, gets drunk during the week to the point of losing consciousness, sometimes in public, and security teams have had to force entry into a building at least once when he did not respond to calls. In addition to forcing the cancellation or postponement of numerous meetings and maintaining a very erratic behavior, more focused on social media than on official investigations.
If Pam Bondi was in charge of the 'Epstein case' at the Department of Justice, Patel is the main authority at the FBI. The president, with enough fronts open, had not paid much attention to complaints about him until now, as he is a completely loyal follower willing to follow his orders, both to purge agents who, doing their job, investigated Trump in the past, and to pursue political enemies.
Patel, who has sued The Atlantic for defamation seeking $250 million, has also announced that there may be arrests this week for alleged irregularities in the 2020 elections that Trump has always defended. The best, and perhaps only, way to protect his job.
Pete Hegseth: No Boss's Congratulations
The second target is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In recent weeks, with the war in Iran, he has played a prominent role, but much less than Vice President J.D. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He is responsible for an unprecedented purge in the military leadership, including generals during the war, and a drift towards very aggressive Christian nationalism.
In Washington, a pseudoscience similar to the Kremlinology of the last century proliferates, where attempts are made to anticipate Trump's thoughts and movements based on his tweets, mentions, and mood. Those paying attention to these details have noted that Hegseth was absent in important messages of gratitude.
The Wall Street Journal, one of the newspapers that has long been pointing out internal conflicts in his Department of Defense (including the dismissal of the minister's close team a few months ago or the expulsion of independent press from the Pentagon), explained this Sunday that the war between Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has escalated. They have clashed over Iran, appointments, and almost everything.
Both Hegseth and Patel, according to local media, are paranoid about the possibility of being dismissed at any moment. Driscoll, a college friend of J.D. Vance, is one of the possible replacements. The most critical analyses say that one of the two will leave soon, in any case.
Tulsi Gabbard: Chief of the Resigned
A third highly mentioned name is that of Tulsi Gabbard, the National Intelligence Director. Trump values her work precisely on the matter of the 2020 elections, as she recently joined an FBI operation in Georgia that seized hundreds of boxes of documents.
But Gabbard was the boss of Joe Kent, the counterterrorism chief who resigned last month in a very public manner, accusing Trump of going to war with Iran without it being a threat and only at Israel's behest. Trump has repeatedly attacked Kent, especially mentioning how he "remarried too quickly" after his first wife died in a bombing in Syria. And, according to reports, he partly blames Gabbard for what happened.
Lori Chavez-Deremer: Toxic Environment and Strange Family Favors
Another who had been heavily targeted for weeks and has been fired just this morning is Employment Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer. Not only due to poor unemployment figures, but also because of a series of scandals that had forced part of her team to resign and involved irregular requests, both from her and her closest family (her husband and her own father), to young female employees in the department. Attitudes that created a toxic and harassing environment for which she was to be examined in Congress.
The press published messages that the entire family sent asking the team to run errands for them, buy alcohol, or with unacceptable insinuations in a professional environment. Chavez-Deremer's husband exchanged text messages with young employees, as did her father, and both she and her former deputy chief of staff instructed some of them to "pay attention" to the men. At least three department employees have filed formal complaints of workplace discrimination and reported "retaliation against women who reported her husband for inappropriate sexual behavior in his office."
Robert F. Kennedy: Being a Denier No Longer Scores Points
The New York Times pointed out another prominent figure on Sunday: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health Secretary, who was in the Oval Office on Saturday morning to discuss medical research and the use of psychedelic drugs. Kennedy, a figure full of scandals, has been completely loyal to the president, but his critical, skeptical, and in some cases, anti-vaccine stance is a problem for the Administration.
Surveys are clear and show support for vaccines, even among Republicans. Kennedy has moderated or changed his discourse in recent days on measles, for example, due to White House pressures, but with little enthusiasm and probably only because of the upcoming elections.
Chris Wright and Fuel Prices
There is more. On Monday, the president became angry during an interview with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who admitted that gasoline prices may not decrease until next year. "No, I think you are wrong about that. Completely wrong," said Trump, very upset because the prices paid by voters continue to rise, which aligns with his thesis that what happens in the Strait of Hormuz is irrelevant because the US is an oil producer and that the war will be very quick and will not have effects on the economy. On the contrary, he has said that it will be very beneficial precisely because of the country's exporting role.
Greg Phillips, Expert in Conspiracy Theories
Shortly before, he also showed disbelief when several journalists asked him about Greg Phillips, the director of the FEMA Response and Recovery Office, the agency that responds to all kinds of emergencies, with over 1,000 employees and a budget of nearly $300 million.
Phillips is known for promoting electoral fraud theories, joining other conspiracies in general, and for a war-mongering rhetoric. But what has made headlines are his stories about how, on at least two occasions, forces beyond his control had teleported him tens of kilometers from two different starting points in Georgia, especially to a Waffle House, a fast-food restaurant. "But was he serious or joking?" Trump asked in one of the interviews.