The last few days have produced a few stories of people quiting their jobs within the US government due to actions by the administration. Although there has not been a mass exodus of people, some of those that are leaving are telling their story. These reasons need to be heard by everyone.
Yesterday, Edward Price, a ten year veteran with the CIA, resigned from his post as a spokesman for the National Security Council. The Washington Post published a piece written by Price about why he left the CIA, after working with both Democrat and Republican Presidents.
Price laments about being in the audience during President Trump's visit to the CIA Headquarters, standing in front of the memorial wall of stars that commemorated fallen CIA agents. It was here that the President continued to brag about non-existent crowds at his inauguration.
"Whether delusional or deceitful, these were not the remarks many of my
colleagues and I wanted to hear from our new commander in chief. I
couldn’t help but reflect on the stark contrast between the bombast of
the new president and the quiet dedication of a mentor — a courageous,
steadfast professional — who is memorialized on that wall."
This mentor, Price explains, was a friend that was killed in Afghanistan. This insult at the memorial of fallen friends and fellow agents wasn't what drove him to quit. That decision came after the reorganization of the National Security Council, which Price had worked on since 2014. He could not continue his honorable service to this country, when the administration eliminated the CIA director as a primary on the council.
It was the lack of faith and the disrespect from the President to the men and women of the CIA that drove Price to resign from the agency. These same reasons were echoed by another member of the National Security Council who was working in the West Wing.
Rumana Ahmed is a American and a Muslim (vice Muslim-American). As she describes in the Atlantic, she was hired in 2011 and was the only hijabi wearing woman in the White House. Despite her anxiety of the incoming administration, she was determined to keep her position within the National Security Council. She was able to hold out for eight days.
Her explanation for her departure to the senior NSC communications advisor, Micheal Anton, was crystal clear.
"I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this
country’s most historic building every day under an administration that
is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American
and as a Muslim. I told him that the administration was attacking the
basic tenets of democracy. I told him that I hoped that they and those
in Congress were prepared to take responsibility for all the
consequences that would attend their decisions."
Anton did not respond to her answer. It was only later did Ahmed come to know that Anton had written many articles under the pin name, Publius Decius Mus, that promoted Trump's anti-immigration, anti-diversity, pro-"America First" movement of WWII and anti-Muslim rhetoric. (Remember, he's still a senior NSC advisor to Trump)
Ahmed describes a chaotic West Wing under the Trump administration. A once diverse crowd of professionals had changed to a "white male bastion". The NSC decision making authority and expertise had been centralized to a small number of people close to the President.
The signing of the Executive Order restricting immigration was the last straw for Ahmed. She saw the Order as legitimizing discrimination within airports. She was concerned about the administration's responses by attacking the courts when defending the ban. Ultimately, she saw these actions as Un-American and threatening the nation's security, as well as the Constitutional checks and balances.
These stories may (or may not) be isolated events. Time will tell how many more people depart because of this administration's poor handling of their position in power. One thing is a fact, these stories are very important for everyone to hear.
These two individual's represent some of the best in this nation. Dedicated public servants that work for the people and Constitution of this country. Neither had any intention of leaving their calling, but the actions of one man, his administration and the support of the republican held Congress drove them to depart their jobs protecting and serving the citizens of the United States.
Whether you support the Trump administration or not, when an experienced public servant leaves their position unexpectedly, it makes us and our country a little weaker, a little more vulnerable. It is a far different matter than loosing a worker in one of Trump's many properties.
Read the articles here:
Edward Price: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-didnt-think-id-ever-leave-the-cia-but-because-of-trump-i-quit/2017/02/20/fd7aac3e-f456-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html?utm_term=.f833fc861d57
Rumana Ahmed: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/rumana-ahmed-trump/517521/
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