Acting Attorney General Sally Yates Was Justifiably Fired for Gross Insubordination

President Trump had no choice but to quickly terminate Sally Yates. He would have doomed his Presidency had he not done so. Her act of defiance, if it stood, would have sent out a message to the world that President Trump is an empty suit, the second political coming of Arnold Schwarzenegger. President Trump is both a man of action and a good negotiator. He is not a fool who will tolerate her behavior in office. She not only openly called out the President on one of his priorities, but also ordered her staff at the Attorneys General Office to not enforce his executive order. An act of insubordination, Yes!, but also possibly an open act of rebellion. It was a direct slap in the face of the President. A subordinate does not usually call out her employer, much less embarrass the President. Such action is normally employment suicide in the private sector. She could easily have quietly resigned for any number of reasons, ranging from the standard “personal reasons” to the honest disagreement over policy. That’s not what she did. She publicly “called out” the President. Cabinet officials serve at the will of the President, who can fire them at any time for any reason. Theirs is an employment at will, the will of one. A standard, common sense rule of life, is that you don’t publicly take on and embarrass your boss. She ordered the Justice Department to not defend in court President Trump’s immigration Executive Order with which she disagreed. That act was one of open insubordination. She had to know that there could only be one outcome – termination. Yet she proceeded, like the Charge of the Light Brigade. Even if she succeeded for a few days in blocking defense of the executive order, her decision would have been overruled within minutes after Senator Jeff Sessions is sworn in as the Attorney General of the United States. Whatever could she have been thinking? Her act was always going to be a self-fulfilling, but futile protest. Her replacement Dana Boente was sworn in at 9:00PM and issued a directive at 11:42PM rescinding her order. What was she thinking? She was going to be out of a job anyway in a few days, so why not go out with a message. Her 30 years as a prosecutor at the Department of Justice abruptly ended last night. She can now claim her 15 minutes of fame. She has become a martyr for the Democratic Party and will be well taken care of. It might last longer than the 15 minutes of Sandra Fluke and Texas Senator Wendy Davis, who conducted a futile filibuster against a Texas abortion bill. Sally Yates will have a long run of chicken dinners coming up.