Dem
47
GOP
53
FBI Director Kash Patel continues to embarrass the Trump administration, between his abuses of the spoils of office, and his very apparent drinking problems, and his propensity to put his foot in his mouth. He also has a few skeletons in the closet; the latest to come to light is that he was twice-arrested while in college, once for public intoxication, the other for public urination (which, presumably, was a product of public intoxication). We are not sure how these things are only seeing the light of day now; doesn't EVERYONE check the criminal record of a would-be FBI Director while he's in the process of being confirmed? Apparently not.
There was some fairly reliable scuttlebutt yesterday that not only are Patel's days numbered, but they are so numbered you can count them on one hand. Politico White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns went on the record with that prediction (although not in a piece for her employer), so there's a good chance it's true. For what it is worth, Polymarket has Patel at 5% to be out by April 30, 42% to be out by May 31, 61% to be out by June 30, and 79% to be out by the end of the year.
All of this said, the demise of Patel isn't really what interests us here. He's going to get the boot, sooner or later, and he's going to be replaced with some other sycophant. What actually interests us is that the Republican members of the Senate are pressing Trump to do whatever firing he is going to do ASAP. There are only so many work days left in the year, and they've already got several key appointments to deal with. If there are going to be more high-profile vacancies, John Thune & Co. want as much time as is possible to deal with them.
This implies two things. First, Trump's suddenly rapid pace for cashiering high-level appointees may continue for another month or two, in deference to the Senate's calendar. Second, this would not be all that much of a problem if Senate Republicans were certain they would hold on to the upper chamber. Clearly, they are not certain, and so want to get as much mileage out of their majority as they can, in the event they end up spending the next 2-10 years wandering the desert. (Z)