I think that the combination of the ethics thing and the trip to Saudi Arabia may be the last straw, even for this politically tone-deaf White House. They’ve noticed the problem over at The Corner, linking to Monday’s story at the Orlando Sentinel.
I’ve never been impressed with him, at least as administrator. He’s completely incapable of selling the new policy, or even being able to articulate it in any consistent way, and I think that he’s becoming a huge political liability for the agency. If he goes, though, it’s unlikely that he’ll be replaced before the Republicans come in next year, which will make it both interesting and difficult to find a confirmable replacement (meaning that Lori could be acting for an indefinite period).
The longer Ms. Garver is acting, the better. She’d be about the best administrator Obama could stomach.
It was tough enough to find him. A new search, however necessary, would be way too…interesting.
Are any of the people who blocked Isakowitz likely to lose their seats in the upcoming election?
That was Nelson, and he’s not up for reelection this year, unfortunately. It’s the other Senate seat that is.
They have too much on their plate to worry about a new administrator. I expect the White House would just nominate Lori Graver and move on. Her place would probably be fill by promotion from within.
Lori has spent her life preparing for that job. I wish her well and all of us out here should do our best to support her against the hostile crowd of porkers.