Back president’s agenda or go, Pompeo tells White House officials

‘If you’re not supporting this [the president’s] mission, then maybe you ought to find something else to do’

MIKE POMPEO, the US secretary of state, publicly warned administration staff yesterday that they needed to either work with the Trump agenda or leave their positions.

His comments came after reports that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, discussed wearing a wire and recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment in the days following the firing of James Comey, the FBI director.

The 25th amendment allows for the removal of the president from office if he or she was deemed unfit to carry out duties. In a thinly veiled attack raising questions over whether Mr Trump would fire Mr Rosenstein, Mr Pompeo suggested that White House officials should find “something else to do” if they did not support the president’s agenda.

“I’ve been pretty clear since my beginning of service here in this administration, if you can’t be on the team, if you’re not supporting this mission, then maybe you ought to find something else to do,” he said.

“I’ve told that to my senior colleagues, I’ve told it to junior folks at the CIA, and the State Department; we need everyone who’s engaged in helping achieve President Trump’s mission. And I hope that everyone in every agency: Department of Justice, FBI, State Department is on that mission. If you’re not, you should take this time to do something more productive,” he said.

Mr Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Mueller investigation into the Trump presidential election campaign’s links to Russia, denied making the comments. “I never pursued or authorised recording the president, and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false,” he said.

According to reports, senior Republicans have convinced a furious Mr Trump not to axe Mr Rosenstein, at least until the midterms are over for fear of negative reaction from voters.

The party is also concerned that firing him may further jeopardise the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which remains on a knife edge with news that Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual assault, will testify before the Senate judiciary committee on Thursday.

A Fox News poll released yesterday showed support for Mr Trump’s nominee was wavering among the public, with just 40 per cent of voters saying they would approve of his confirmation, down five per cent from a month ago.