At a rally in Florida on Sunday night, President Trump suggested he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, soon after the election. Trump may have been just playing to the crowd, which had started chanting "Fire Fauci!" "Don't tell anybody, but let me wait till a little bit after the election, please," Trump responded, after a pause. "I appreciate the advice." But he also just issued an executive order that could allow him to fire nonpartisan civil servants like Fauci without cause or recourse.
Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has publicly questioned the Trump administration's response to the third sharp rise in COVID-19 cases and Trump's favorite new herd-immunity-touting doctor, but polls also show Fauci is far more trusted on the pandemic than Trump or the White House. Trump has been openly critical of Fauci for weeks.
If Trump wins a second term, he and his allies are planning what "would amount to a purge of any Cabinet member who has crossed the president, refused to mount investigations he has demanded, or urged him to take a different, more strict tack on the coronavirus response," Politico reports. "Already, the White House and administration officials have started to vet names of health care experts who could take over the agencies running many elements of the government's pandemic response and overseeing the country's health insurance system, according to two Republicans close to the White House." Read more about the possible purge at Politico.
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