As the country continues to wrestle with finding a way to address the COVID-19 pandemic without destroying liberty in the process, Trump is reportedly entertaining the idea of replacing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
The possible all but guaranteed dismissal of Azar comes after his criticism of President “I don’t take responsibility” Trump for not acting sooner to address the coronavirus. Although, to be fair, Trump was rather busy earlier this year holding rallies where he blamed Democrats for “politicizing the Coronavirus” and accused them of using it as a “new hoax” to take him down.
Azar’s dismissal will be the latest example of Trump’s Godfather “never go against the family” mentality, where loyalty to “the Don” — see what I did there? — is paramount to every other consideration. Additionally, it’s evidence of his never-ending assault on the Constitution and his dictatorial abuse of power.
If Azar is dismissed — Trump is currently calling this “Fake News” — his position will most likely be filled by an “acting” official.
Persons appointed to an acting position aren’t subject to the Senate review and approval process that top-level administration officials are usually required to undergo to be permanently installed. Throughout his presidency, Trump has been free to unilaterally staff his administration without the checks and balances provided in the Constitution by using such appointments.
Besides the constitutionally questionable nature of such appointments, Trump’s end run around the Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of America’s founding document allows him to dole out political favors to donors and loyalists based on their fealty to him regardless of whether or not they’re qualified, which has been Trump’s plan all along.
When asked in a CBS News interview last year about the large number of acting officials in his administration, he said, “It’s okay. It’s easier to make moves when they’re acting. I like acting because I can move so quickly. It gives me more flexibility.” (emphasis mine)
A case study on how destructive this abuse of power can be is evident in Trump’s February appointment of Richard Grenell — a FOX News contributor with a non-existent resume in international affairs — to be acting Director of National Intelligence after Trump dismissed the previous acting director, Joseph McGuire, for participating with Congress when he briefed Congress about Russian election interference.
Immediately after being installed, Grenell began molding the intelligence community in Trump’s image — control of intelligence being a Trump objective in the aftermath of the Russia investigation and his impeachment. Additionally, Grenell, an open homosexual, is using his time as acting director to advance the LGBT agenda and has demanded the complete normalization of homosexuality and transgenderism with all Intelligence Community (IC) operations.
Using the assignment Trump gave him last year to lead the US effort to decriminalize homosexuality around the world as a basis, Grenell is requiring the use of IC resources to advance that effort.
One policy proposal Trump and Grenell are considering is a ban on intelligence sharing with any country refusing to decriminalize homosexuality.
The dictionary describes a tyrant as “an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution,” and the Founding Fathers warned that too much power in the hands of one person would create such a person and destroy liberty.
Trump’s dictatorial abuse of power is the very picture such a person.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable and promotes conservative principles over political parties.
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