The Department of Commerce is in complete disarray, with multiple staff departures, infighting, and a Secretary of Commerce who often falls asleep during meetings, according to a startling new report from Politico.
Four people who spoke with Politico noted that the 81-year-old Ross has lost the confidence of staffers at the department:
“He’s sort of seen as kind of irrelevant. The morale is very low there because there’s not a lot of confidence in the secretary,” said a former outside adviser to Commerce who is still in touch with many employees inside the department. “He’s not respected in the building.”
Ross doesn’t hold routine meetings with senior staffers, according to a person familiar with the department’s inner workings and a former outside adviser — a departure from past practice that one source attributed to the secretary’s lack of stamina.
“Because he tends to fall asleep in meetings, they try not to put him in a position where that could happen so they’re very careful and conscious about how they schedule certain meetings,” said the former outside adviser. “There’s a small window where he’s able to focus and pay attention and not fall asleep.”
All of this comes at a time when the role of the Commerce Department is more important and ever. There’s an ongoing trade war with China and a census on the horizon, both of which fall under the direct purview of Commerce. And yet there are whispers that Ross has lost President Donald Trump’s favor and may be on his way out:
At an appearance at the White House in mid-July on an announcement on abandoning the citizenship question in the census, the Commerce secretary stood next to Trump the entire time and was the only one of the three people who didn’t speak.
Ross’s relationship with the White House and with Trump was also damaged by stories that came out in the last 18 months showing that he wasn’t as rich as he had claimed and hadn’t fully divested some stock as he had promised, according to the former outside adviser.
As the White House gears up for the 2020 election, it seems likely that Trump may indeed dump Ross overboard and appoint an acting secretary, the same pattern that has been established at other cabinet agencies. Of course, Ross may not get the news for weeks, or at least not until his nap has concluded.
Featured Image Via CNN Screenshot
