DHS/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is in the midst of a purge at the Department of Homeland Security, evidently aimed at implementing more severe immigration and border security policies. Last week he ousted Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and followed by firing or threatening to fire other top figures in the department, even forcing out the department’s next-in-line in order to install his preferred choice. Recent reporting suggests one of the next targets will be the department’s general counsel, a serious Senate-confirmed professional, showing that Trump is concentrating on lowering DHS’s legal compliance and removing the guardrails that have constrained his immigration actions thus far. This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to bend a federal law enforcement agency to his will. Since he took office, Trump has beat up on the Department of Justice and the FBI in an attempt to derail the Russia investigation and direct officials instead to investigate his political enemies. But even though he managed to push out several high profile figures—notably, FBI director Jim Comey—most of his efforts backfired spectacularly, and the rule of law held.”
–Carrie Cordero and Garrett M. Graff, “Don’t Count on DHS to Resist Trump’s Worst Impulses,” Politico, April 17, 2019