Maddow expands wall of departures under Trump after Tillerson ouster

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night expanded her running list of departures from the Trump administration to a third column following a series of firings earlier in the day. 

“So, today, we have added the secretary of State, the under secretary of State for public diplomacy, the NASA administrator, the head of the forest service and the president’s personal assistant,” she said, motioning to the names listed on the wall behind her.

“We have gone to the big wall and three columns,” she added. “Anybody else going tonight?”

{mosads}President Trump unexpectedly fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday morning with a tweet that said he would name CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.

Tillerson’s departure then led to the firing of Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein, who contradicted the White House’s account of Tillerson’s ouster.

Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was also fired after he was reportedly denied a security clearance because of financial problems related to online gambling and tax issues.

Those exits came a week after top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned over a trade policy dispute.

Late Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times reported that Trump is considering replacing Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

National security adviser H.R. McMaster has reportedly been on thin ice for some time as well.