Frustrated by ‘my generals,’ Trump turns to ‘my actings’

Donald Trump came into office enamored with, as he called them, “my generals.” But as he learned on the job, the commander in chief grew frustrated with and replaced those retired four-star military men. Two years later, the president’s Cabinet is now stocked with a group he calls “my actings.” “I have ‘acting.’ And my ‘actings’ are doing really great. David [Bernhardt] is doing great at Interior. Mick Mulvaney is doing great as [White House] chief of staff,” the president said Jan. 6 as he left the White House for a border security summit with senior aides at Camp David. “But I sort of like ‘acting.’” “It gives me more flexibility. Do you understand that?” he asked reporters. “I like ‘acting,’” he added. “So we have a few that are acting. … If you look at my Cabinet, we have a fantastic Cabinet. Really good.” Experts say the Constitution, existing laws and department-specific guidelines give Trump the authority and legal cover to keep various acting Cabinet-level and other officials in place for over 200 days — or longer, in some cases. But the law is clear as mud when it comes to whether he could simply keep a favorite “acting” in place for the duration of his administration, legal scholars say...MORE