For more than a year now, we have been hearing of Obama-era holdovers still holding jobs in the White House.  And not surprisingly, there's been turmoil, with leaks stoking feeding frenzies for the Democratic operatives with bylines known as the press.  The latest example of this was in the annoying leak about President Trump refusing to take the advice of these holdovers about not congratulating President Putin for his re-election in Russia.  That one not only could have been the work of leftover Obamatons, but also could have been the work of NeverTrump dead-enders or Bush loyalists.

I ask you: why is this going on?  President Trump has been in office more than a year, run through two national security advisers, and apparently, these disloyalists are still there, embedded like parasites, and the leaks are still going on.  Why?

This is not how basic politics works.  A leader enters office and brings his loyalists with him, especially at the White House.  It's been that way since the 19th-century spoils system, and it makes sense.  Obama and former president George W. Bush certainly did it.

That's why a report from Foreign Policy headlined "Bolton Expected to 'Clean House'" was so welcome.  If this is why Trump is bringing him in, it's good news.  I suspect that President Trump's previous lieutenants were insufficiently attuned to the need to get rid of these holdovers, whether through thinking them to be competent or imagining that they would behave professionally.

Nope, there has never been a hint from any Democrat in a White House position of being anything but a partisan, whose loyalty points only to other Democrats.  It's time for them to go.

Foreign Policy writes:

Incoming National Security Advisor John Bolton and people close to him are expected to launch a massive shake-up at the National Security Council, aiming to remove dozens of current White House officials, starting with holdovers from President Barack Obama's administration, according to multiple sources.

Those targeted for removal include officials believed to have been disloyal to President Donald Trump, those who have leaked about the president to the media, his predecessor's team, and those who came in under Obama.

"Bolton can and will clean house," one former White House official said.

Another source said, "He is going to remove almost all the political [appointees] McMaster brought in."

A second former White House official offered a blunt assessment of former Obama officials currently detailed or appointed to the NSC: "Everyone who was there during Obama years should start packing their [s‑‑‑]."

So much is at stake here, and it goes beyond leaks.  The Ben Rhodes minions still in the White House are primarily loyal to the Iran deal and preserving the rest of Obama's disastrous legacy of foreign policy failure, including the one-way normalization of relations with Cuba, the rudeness to Israel, the devotion to European-based multilateral institutions such as the World Court, the United Nations (yes, it may be based in New York, but look who calls the shots), and NATO.  I don't care how "nice" they are, or reputedly competent.  Every last one of these adherents to failed Obama policies needs to be out of there, right away, and filling the ranks of Obama think-tanks.