On February 28, the superpower US and its ally Israel unleashed furious air attacks on Iran to eliminate the leadership of the Islamic regime. But the decapitation only led to the further consolidation of the regime. As the colossal military campaign was losing its way, the Establishment in Washington was starting to implode with a frustrated President Trump sacking senior civil and military officials for various acts of omission and commission.     

The assassination of at least 11 top political and military leaders of the Islamic regime had given the US a splendid start, but within days, the Iranian defences proved to be both resilient and resourceful enough to blunt the assault and dictate terms. 

Compounding the lack of progress on the battlefront, confusion was further exacerbated in Washington, with an irate Trump embarking on a sacking spree across the top echelons of his Administration. The latest to be sacked is Pam Bondi the Attorney General. Two weeks ago, Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, was axed.

Trump removed Bondi because he was frustrated with her failure to swiftly prosecute his political adversaries and also with her handling of the Epstein files. She was inconsistent – proclaiming one day that she had damning information, then denying it the next day. She also weaponized the Department of Justice to protect Donald Trump and put survivors in harm’s way by exposing their identities, commented Robert Garcia (Democrat -California.). “She will not escape accountability and remains legally obligated to appear before the Oversight Committee under oath.”   The Oversight Committee had voted to subpoena (order to appear) her after her shaky appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

In an apparent effort to neutralize the bipartisan push to compel her  Bondi voluntarily came to Capitol Hill last month to brief Oversight Committee members on her Department’s work around the Epstein case. Democrats at one point stormed out of the private briefing, saying it appeared to be an effort by Bondi to avoid testifying under oath. 

In the wake of her termination, Congressman Ro Khanna said in a statement she still had to answer for the lack of additional prosecutions in the Epstein case.

In February 2025, Bondi promised to usher in a new era of transparency in the Epstein matter, but unveiled no new information. Five months later, the Justice Department, in an unsigned memo, announced it would not be releasing any further materials in the federal government’s investigation into the convicted sex offender. That decision drew outrage from Trump’s base, which has for years been clamouring for an Epstein “client list” that could include a vast web of powerful, wealthy men.

Early in March Trump ousted Kristi Noem as the leader of the Department of Homeland Security after he watched her in Congressional hearings. Noem had faced mounting criticism from members across party lines amid a standoff over funding for the department and widespread backlash against the Administration’s immigration crackdown following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis in January. 

Greg Bovino, who served as another visible leader in Trump’s immigration crackdown in his role as commander-at-large of Customs and Border Protection, was ousted from the position in January as backlash flared in the wake of Good and Pretti’s shootings. Bovino was then on the ground overseeing federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, after previously doing the same in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, and New Orleans that were similarly targeted in Trump’s crackdown.

In late August last year, the White House announced that it had fired Susan Monarez just weeks after she was confirmed as the new director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. A spokesperson for the White House told news outlets at the time that Monarez was “not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.” But Monarez’s lawyers said that she was “targeted” because she “refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directive and fire dedicated health experts.” 

Revenue (IRS) Commissioner Billy Long and acting commissioner Gary Shapley were also sacked. Long was abruptly ousted last August and sent to Iceland as Ambassador.  No reason was publicly given for Long’s departure. Trump made Long Ambassador to Iceland, but he brought disrepute to the US, saying that Iceland will become US’s “52nd State.” He later apologized for the remark, saying “there was nothing serious about that.” 

Before Long was confirmed to the post IRS commissioner, four other people had already served as acting heads of the agency during the opening months of Trump’s second term. 

Melanie Krause, announced plans to resign in mid-April after the Trump Administration unveiled an agreement to provide taxpayer data to immigration authorities. Trump then named Gary Shapley as acting commissioner, only to oust him days later after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly complained he had not been consulted before Shapley’s appointment.

Cameron Hamilton was removed as the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in May, just a few months after Trump tapped him for the role. Hamilton broke with the Administration by testifying to members of Congress that he did not approve of dismantling the agency. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he told the Congress.  The following day, Hamilton was removed. 

Mike Waltz, who Trump ousted from his position as National Security Adviser last May, was the first senior member of the Administration to be removed following Trump’s return to the White House. Waltz’s ouster came weeks after “The Atlantic” revealed in a report that he had organised a group chat on the encrypted messaging app “Signal” to coordinate a sensitive military operation against Houthis in Yemen. Trump announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would replace Waltz as his interim National Security Adviser. 

Military Leaders Sacked 

The current upheaval in the administration is not confined top civilians. At the rebranded War Department, Pete Hegseth has fired a bevy of generals. The most prominent is Randy George, the Army Chief of Staff who has pushed for the acquisition of inexpensive drones and other vital weaponry. Hegseth’s move appears to be rooted in petulance over Randy George’s refusal to arbitrarily remove several one-star generals from a promotion list. 

Hegseth has also sacked two other army generals – David Hodne, head of Transformation and Training Command, and William Green, Jr. the head of the Chaplain Corps. 

The removals indicate the frustration of Trump and Hegseth over the clumsy and expensive war against Iran which the President flippantly described as an “excursion”. In addition, opinion polls show a declining support for the war. The latest CNN poll shows that 66% of Americans disapprove of it. The average US gas prices past US$ 4 a gallon after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz..

Contradictions are mounting for Trump, as he tries to wriggle out of the conflict, looking for an off ramp. He indicated in his primetime Oval Office address that he intends to keep fighting for several more weeks, but at the same time, it asserted that it is the duty of his European allies to come forward and open the Strait of Hormuz because they needed the Strait of Hormuz more. 

“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Iran, on the contrary, is unwavering in its stand. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “We will not accept a ceasefire but rather seek a complete end to the war, not in Iran alone but in the entire region. We have not responded to the US proposals, nor submitted any counter-proposals or conditions. We have received text messages from Witkoff, but that doesn’t mean we’re negotiating. The Strait of Hormuz is completely open but is closed only to those who fight us. There will be difficulties in rebuilding trust with our neighbours in the Gulf, but we’re confident we will. Is ready to face a ground invasion.”

© Eurasia Review