secretary

Aug. 5 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is no longer on the list to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“Well I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Trump said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “I asked him just last night, ‘Is this something you want?’ ‘Nope I want to stay where I am.'”

“I just take him off. He does not want it. He likes being Treasury secretary,” Trump said.

Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in 2026, and Trump has been highly critical of his hesitation to lower interest rates, calling him a “moron” and “too late.”

Trump is considering his own replacements for the Fed’s board of governors amid his criticism of Powell over his stance on interest rates.

Others Trump is considering to replace Powell include Kevin Warsh, a financier and bank executive who previously served on the Fed’s board of governors, and Kevin Hassett, an economist and the head of the National Economic Council at the White House.

“Both Kevins are very good, and there are other people that are very good, too,” Trump said, adding that [Adriana] Kugler’s resignation “was a pleasant surprise.”

Kugler, a labor economist, announced Friday that she would step down from the Fed’s board of governors this Friday. She plans to return to teaching public policy at Georgetown University in the fall.

Another contender for Powell’s job is economist and Fed governor Christopher Waller, whom Trump appointed.

Trump nominated Powell for the Fed job in 2017, during his first term as president. President Joe Biden reappointed him during his term. Trump alleged Tuesday that Powell told him, “Sir, I’ll keep interest rates so low. I’m a low interest rate person.”

Last week, the Fed kept the interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%. Waller and governor Michelle Bowman, another Trump appointee, dissented. It was the first time two governors had dissented since 1993.

Early this month, the U.S. military and masked federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection invaded a park near downtown Los Angeles — ironically, a park named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur. They came ready for battle, dressed in tactical gear and camouflage, with some arriving on horseback, while others rolled in on armored vehicles or patrolled above in Black Hawk helicopters. Although the invasion force failed to capture anyone, it did succeed in liberating the park from a group of children participating in a summer camp.

The MacArthur Park operation sounds like a scene from “South Park,” but it really did happen — and its implications are terrifying. As Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol agent in charge, said to Fox News: “Better get used to us now, ’cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.” And President Trump is sending the same message to every Democratic governor and mayor in America who dares oppose him. He will send heavily armed federal forces wherever he wants, whenever he wants and for any reason.

The United States stands at the threshold of an authoritarian breakthrough, and Congress and the courts have given Trump a lot of tools. He’s learned from Jan. 6, 2021, that he needs tight control over the “guys with the guns,” as retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley put it. And that’s what he got when Congress dutifully confirmed Trump loyalists to lead all of the “power ministries” — the military, the FBI and the Department of Justice, the rest of the intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security.

As commander in chief, the president can deploy troops and, under Title 10, he can also put National Guard troops under his command — even against the wishes of local officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged the legality of Trump’s exercise of this authority in Los Angeles last month, and we will see what the courts say — but based on its initial rulings, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit appears likely to defer to the president. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the troops cannot currently enforce laws, but Trump could change that by invoking the Insurrection Act, and we have to assume that the current Supreme Court would defer to him on that as well, following long-standing precedents saying the president’s power under the act is “conclusive.”

Trump could send the military into other cities, but the most dangerous weapon in his authoritarian arsenal might be the newly empowered Department of Homeland Security, which has been given $170 billion by Congress to triple the size of ICE and double its detention capacity.

No doubt, this will put Trump’s “mass deportation” into overdrive, but this is not just about immigration. Remember Portland in 2020, when Trump sent Border Patrol agents into the city? Against the wishes of the Oregon governor and the Portland mayor, the president deployed agents to protect federal buildings and suppress unrest after the killing of George Floyd. Under the Homeland Security Act, the secretary can designate any employee of the department to assist the Federal Protective Service in safeguarding government property and carrying out “such other activities for the promotion of homeland security as the Secretary may prescribe.”

Under that law, DHS officers can also make arrests, on and off of federal property, for “any offense against the United States.” This is why, in 2020, Border Patrol agents — dressed like soldiers and equipped with M-4 semi-automatic rifles — were able to rove around Portland in unmarked black SUVs and arrest people off the streets anywhere in the city. Trump could do this again anywhere in the country, and with the billions Congress has given to immigration and border agencies, DHS could assemble and deploy a formidable federal paramilitary force wherever and whenever Trump wishes.

Of course, under the 4th Amendment, officers need to have at least reasonable suspicion based on specific, articulable facts before they can stop and question someone, and probable cause before they arrest. And on Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE and Customs and Border Protection from making such stops without reasonable suspicion, and further holding that this could not be based on apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; presence at a particular location, such as a Home Depot parking lot; or the type of work a person does. This ruling could end up providing an important constitutional restraint on these agencies, but we shall see. The Trump administration has appealed the ruling.

However, this litigation proceeds, it is important to note that the DHS agencies are not like the FBI, with its buttoned-down, by-the-book culture drilled into it historically and in response to the revelations of J. Edgar Hoover’s abuses of power. DHS and its agencies have no such baggage, and they clearly have been pushing the envelope in Los Angeles — sometimes brutally — over the last month. And even if Frimpong’s ruling stands up on appeal, ICE and Customs and Border Protection will no doubt adapt by training their officers to articulate other justifications for stopping people on the street or in workplaces. Ultimately, these agencies are used to operating near the border, where, in the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s words, the federal government’s power is “at its zenith,” and where there are far fewer constitutional constraints on their actions.

These are the tools at Trump’s disposal — and as DHS rushes to hire thousands of agents and build the detention facilities Congress just paid for, these tools will only become more formidable. And one should anticipate that Trump will want to deploy the DHS paramilitary forces to “protect” the 2026 or 2028 elections, alongside federal troops, in the same way they worked together to capture MacArthur Park.

A fanciful, dystopian scenario? Maybe, but who or what would stop it from happening? Congress does not seem willing to stand up to the president — and while individual federal judges might, the Supreme Court seems more likely to defer to him, especially on issues concerning national security or immigration. So, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “the last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people, you and me.” Suit up.

Seth Stodder served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of Homeland Security for borders, immigration and trade and previously as assistant secretary for threat prevention and security. He teaches national security and counterterrorism law at USC Law School.

Reporting from Washington — Embattled Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta announced his resignation Friday amid mounting criticism of a lenient plea deal he struck with a now-convicted sex offender while Acosta was a federal prosecutor in Florida.

Acosta’s departure, which takes effect next week, means acting secretaries will head four major federal departments. He is the 11th Cabinet official to quit or be forced out, several under ethical or legal clouds, since President Trump took office.

Trump told reporters that Acosta had called him Friday morning to resign, adding, “It’s his decision.” Acosta said he wanted to avoid becoming a distraction to the administration so it could focus on the economy.

The resignation came two days after Acosta held a news conference to try to save his job by defending the plea agreement he negotiated in 2008 with Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, when Acosta served as U.S. attorney in Miami.

The news conference was aimed in part at persuading a president who is happy to gin up his own controversies but tends to resent bad publicity caused by underlings. Acosta’s effort to absolve himself of responsibility failed after prosecutors in Florida publicly challenged his account.

On Friday, Trump praised Acosta but did not say he had tried to persuade him to stay.

“I do not think it is right and fair for this administration’s Labor Department to have Epstein as its focus,” Acosta said as he stood beside Trump at the White House before the president departed for a trip to Wisconsin and Ohio for fundraising events and a speech.

Trump seemed less concerned.

“Alex believes that. I’m willing to live with anything,” he said. “Alex felt that way.

“He was a great student at Harvard. He’s Hispanic, which I so admire, because maybe it was a little tougher for him and maybe not,” Trump added. “That’s what I know about him. I know one thing — he did a great job.”

Acosta added that “Cabinet positions are temporary trusts,” a fact that is especially notable in Trump’s White House, which has struggled with record turnover.

Acosta’s departure means Patrick Pizzella, the deputy secretary of Labor, will serve as acting secretary. Pizzella’s career also is tinged by controversy.

A former lobbyist, Pizzella was involved in an effort in the late 1990s and early 2000s to prevent the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, from adopting federal minimum wage laws.

Pizzella worked on the project with Jack Abramoff, an influential lobbyist who later was sentenced to six years in prison for charges related to fraud.

The issue dogged Pizzella during his Senate confirmation hearings for deputy secretary in July 2017.

“One of the key issues you lobbied on was to block bipartisan legislation for basic worker protections in the Northern Mariana Islands, where garment manufacturers could produce clothing labeled made in the USA without having to comply with U.S. minimum wage laws,” then-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella group of 200 activist organizations, later accused Pizzella of working to advocate policies “that essentially allowed for unchecked slave labor to be performed.”

Pizzella was confirmed by the Senate, 50-48.

Acosta’s downfall stems from his role in the prosecution of Epstein, a once-powerful financier who socialized with Donald Trump before he became president and Bill Clinton after he left the White House.

Epstein was charged in 2008 with luring underage girls to his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion for sex.

Under the plea agreement with Acosta’s office, Epstein avoided a federal trial — where, if convicted, he could have faced a potential sentence of life in prison — and pleaded guilty instead to two state felony solicitation charges.

He served 13 months in a county jail but was allowed to go to his office six days a week on a work release program.

In February, a judge ruled that the deal was improper because Acosta did not tell victims about the arrangement. The Justice Department subsequently opened an investigation into Acosta’s handling of the case.

Acosta has denied any wrongdoing, but the deal gave rise to a growing chorus of complaints in the #MeToo era that a sexual predator was granted favorable treatment because of his vast wealth and high-powered social connections.

The controversy reignited last weekend when federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with bringing underage girls to his opulent Manhattan townhouse and abusing them. He has pleaded not guilty.

Trump’s own ties to Epstein made the episode increasingly awkward for the White House.

Although Trump has tried to distance himself from his former friend, in a 2002 interview with New York magazine, he called Epstein a “terrific guy” and “a lot of fun to be with” while noting that “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

On Friday,Trump reiterated that he had a falling out with Epstein some years ago and that he is “not a fan.” He did not disclose the nature of their dispute.

Acosta had run afoul of the White House before Epstein’s legal problems reemerged. Some of Trump’s advisors had complained that Acosta failed to aggressively pursue deregulation and other pro-business initiatives the president favored.

Before he joined the Trump administration, Acosta served on the National Labor Relations Board and in the Justice Department’s civil rights division under President George W. Bush.

He later was a well-respected dean of Florida International University, a public university in Miami. Much of his role in the Epstein case was known publicly when Trump selected him.

But unlike other presidents who have broad connections in government, Trump came to office as an outsider and relied on the judgment of others to fill out his staff. Vetting in many cases appeared cursory at best.

Acosta said Friday that he had never met or spoken with Trump when he came for an interview in early 2017 and was offered the job.

Like many others who have come into Trump’s orbit, he leaves as a damaged figure.

No modern president has lost as many Cabinet officials or senior advisors in his entire first term as Trump has in his first 30 months, according to records maintained by Kathryn Dunn Tenpas for the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank.

“No matter how you slice the data, the turnover is off the charts,” Tenpas said.

“It handicaps a president’s capacity to enhance his agenda or fulfill his campaign promises,” she added.

In all, eight secretaries who have left permanent Cabinet posts have done so under pressure or protest.

Only one moved to another administration job. That was John F. Kelly, who left as secretary of Homeland Security to become White House chief of staff. Kelly left the latter post in January after multiple disputes with Trump, and his replacement, Mick Mulvaney, is still in an acting capacity.

Three other Cabinet officials who do not head permanent Cabinet departments also left — one under pressure and two voluntarily.

Trump has said he likes the flexibility of having officials serve in an acting capacity, and his propensity to replace people has prompted those aides to work especially hard to stay in his good graces, flattering the president often in public.

That was on display Thursday when Trump held a Rose Garden event to announce an embarrassing retreat — he was giving up his fight to add a citizenship question on the U.S. census after being rebuffed by the Supreme Court.

Rather than admit defeat, Atty. Gen. William Barr praised Trump repeatedly. “Congratulations again, Mr. President,” he said.

The constant speculation about which of Trump’s aides will be next to fall — published reports Friday suggested Direction of National Intelligence Dan Coats may be on the edge — has distracted from the White House agenda.

“It means that people are focusing not on the mission of the organization, but they’re focusing on the water cooler chat about who’s going to be their boss and who’s going to be sticking around,” said Max Stier, chief executive of Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan nonprofit group focused on making government work better.

When top government advisors leave or face uncertain futures, their subordinates are also at risk of replacement, creating instability throughout the agency.

Trump’s picks have been surrounded by more controversy in part because he often selects them hastily, announcing appointments before they have been vetted.