President Trump weighs ousting of commerce secretary Wilbur Ross
One of the most senior financial figures within Donald Trump’s administration could be pushed out within weeks, according to US media reports.
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Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary and prominent investor, is reportedly in President Trump’s firing line after losing a Supreme Court case to add a citizenship question to the US census.
Trump has told aides and allies he is weighing up the possibility of firing Ross, NBC reported today, with Trump reportedly frustrated over the 81-year-old’s role in failed trade negotiations as well.
Last week’s the Supreme Court concluded that Trump’s administration would not be allowed to include a question about citizenship on the 2020 census form that goes to every US household, in a significant win for many Democratic populous states.
The White House declined to comment to the network.
The turnover of Trump’s cabinet grew again on Friday when labor secretary Alexander Acosta became the White House’s latest senior figure to step down, following pressure over his handling of a plea deal with financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.
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Epstein, who currently faces accusations of sex trafficking of minors, brokered a deal led by Acosta that put an end to a federal probe into allegations.
Acosta “informed me this morning that he felt the constant drumbeat of press about a prosecution which took place under his watch more than 12 years ago was bad for the Administration, which he so strongly believes in, and he graciously tendered his resignation,” Trump tweeted later in the day.