Trump pressured: Speed hiring, pick loyalists, reject #NeverTrumpers

By PAUL BEDARD • 3/9/17 1:00 PM

Campaign strategists and loyalists to President Trump are shifting into emergency mode to convince him to speed the pace of hiring top aides and Cabinet deputies and to demand that they agree with his agenda.

In calling for a "reset," said one advisor, Trump and his top staff are also being urged to reject those who campaigned against the president or joined the #NeverTrump movement.

Frustrated with a handful of Cabinet secretaries who have sought to pack top staffs with those not loyal to the president, the advisors, including those with direct access to the Oval Office, are pushing for the president to follow former President Reagan's model of bringing in only those who are supportive of his mission.

Reagan is famous for saying, "personnel is policy."

Under Trump, however, the policy is less clear. Notably, according to reports, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have pushed problem hires.

By comparison, some others, notably Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have had trouble getting loyalists through the hiring and confirmation process.

"You've got some Cabinet secretaries who are horse's asses. Some are 10s, some are 5s," said a longtime presidential personnel expert.

Influential columnist John Fund addressed the problem in a recent post on Fox that noted that the Trump personnel office is understaffed. Quoting a Trump appointee awaiting confirmation, he wrote, "Personnel are policy, and if you don't have key personnel, and enough of them, the home team of Washington bureaucrats will wear you down and win every time."

Some say the problem is in the White House office of presidential personnel, headed by John DeStefano. Axios reported that his office has pressed Cabinet officials to hire "our people," but other sources said that the demand is being ignored.

One Trump adviser said that the president is being pressed to expand the presidential personnel office and possibly even hire a new director.

Here's how the adviser explained it:

"We need a reset. We need a new head of presidential personnel to fix this situation. We need a new process to name folks. And over the next 12 months we have to pack the administration with people who are loyal to the president and his philosophy."

It's a sentiment some in the White House have preached. Spokesman Sean Spicer, for example, admonished State aides who were upset by the president's initial immigration executive orders. "I think that they should get with the program or they can go," he said.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tr...rticle/2616929

It makes sense to hire only those who have been supportive of your policies and will continue to do so. Those that fully support your policies are the only folks you can trust. Loyalty is key and President Trump should only surround himself with those he knows to be supportive and loyal.