‘The Executive of the Executive Branch’

The power of a president to hire and fire is crucial to the ability to take care that our laws are faithfully executed.

AP/Alex Brandon
President Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, at the White House on January 28, 2025. AP/Alex Brandon

President Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is offering a stalwart defense of the commander in chief’s power to fire federal employees. “He is the executive of the executive branch, and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to,” she tells CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. It could be an uphill climb, though the administration is, by our lights, planting its flag on constitutional bedrock. 

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