“John Rhodes and Hugh Scott were not profiles of courage when facing Nixon. Still, it mattered when they did, ”said William Kristol, a conservative writer and activist who has criticized Trump, referring to the two most senior Republicans in Congress who played a crucial role in persuading President Richard M. Nixon to step down in August. 1974.
However, none of the departed Trump officials appears to be making the kind of self-sacrifice remembered in some famous resignations. Cyrus Vance resigned as Secretary of State in 1980 in protest against President Jimmy Carter’s failed secret mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. Two senior officials from the Department of Health and Human Services resigned in anger at President Bill Clinton’s decision to sign a comprehensive pension reform law of 1996. Trump’s first defense secretary, Jim Mattis, resigned after Trump’s sudden decision to remove American troops from northeastern Syria.
At least one Trump administration official appears to have invited his own resignation this week: Gabriel Noronha, a State Department press officer, tweeted on Wednesday that Mr. Trump was “totally unable to stay in office and needs to leave”. In what should not have come as a surprise to him, Mr. Noronha was fired the next day.
There are public rumors that others are considering their plans, including national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, who tweeted condemnations of Wednesday’s riot. O’Brien, who talked to friends about a future candidacy for public office, would have stayed for the sake of stability, but may have enjoyed reputation gains among Trump’s critics after a series of news leaks put him in a Hamlet – as a role about your future.
But Trump officials confirmed on Friday that five senior directors of the National Security Council, dealing with issues including Russia and weapons of mass destruction, have quietly resigned from their jobs since Wednesday.
In the cases of Ms. DeVos and Ms. Chao, some critics complained that, on leaving, they were giving up an opportunity to do something much more important: to join with other angry cabinet officials in a potential effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and relieve Mr. Trump of his presidential duties.
“In this advanced stage, layoffs help little more than serve as late attempts at self-preservation,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, wrote on Twitter. “If Sec. Chao is so deeply opposed to yesterday’s events, she should be working in the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment – not abdicating the seat that allows her to do so. “