May 01, 2025 12:37 PM UTC

We Wish It Were Goodbye, Mike Waltz, But...

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• by: Colorado Pols

Politico broke the story this morning that will consume the rest of the week’s political news from Washington as the “Signalgate” national security fiasco belatedly claims its first metaphorical head, with national security advisor Mike “Butt Dial” Waltz out of that job after weeks of being stood by by Donald Trump, becoming the first Cabinet-level casualty of Trump’s second term:

Names for a replacement have been discussed around the West Wing for weeks, but the plans to remove Waltz potentially as soon as this week gained steam in recent days, according to two of the people, and another person close to the White House.

If Waltz leaves, he would be the first senior level departure in the second Trump administration. The president has so far resisted pressure to remove Cabinet officials and other top advisers. It would also be a stunning fall for the former member of Congress from Florida and military veteran.

Asked for comment, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources.”

Then a short while later, Trump announced the “solution”–Mike Waltz will be moving to replace the aborted Rep. Elise Stefanik as nominee for ambassador to the UN:

While the demotion to UN ambassador is not a full firing, there’s no question it’s intended to remove Waltz from the innermost circle of national security strategy, and comes amid widespread reports of dissatisfaction with Waltz following the “Signalgate” disclosure and in particular Waltz’s Prince Andrew-like handling of the response. The bumbling response to this comedy of errors has also endangered the future of Defense Secretary and fellow Signal chat channel member Pete Hegseth, who is currently burning through the last of his goodwill at the Pentagon.

There was a brief moment this morning between the word of Waltz’s imminent firing and the news of his switch to UN ambassador during which Rep. Gabe Evans or other self-interested Republicans could have earned some credit by admitting that someone in the Trump administration had actually screwed up. In this way, Waltz might have been worth more to Republicans metaphorically dead than alive.

Now they’ll have to continue making excuses for Waltz, with a slightly reduced chance of further embarrassment.