# How quick for a cabinet officer to get fired?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quick-for-a-cabinet-officer-to-get-fired/779793>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 14, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quick-for-a-cabinet-officer-to-get-fired/779793 "2017-02-14T02:34:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quick-for-a-cabinet-officer-to-get-fired/779793/21 "2017-02-14T22:42:10Z")

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Generally, if you were appointed by the President you serve at his whim. He made you and he can break you.

There is the category of [Senior Executive Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Executive_Service_(United_States)). These can be either career or appointed positions in the senior spaces to provide a professional buffer between the worker bees and the policy makers. POTUS can appoint 10% of these positions. The rest are career - and some positions are reserved for career.

If one is a ‘career’ SES then the Presidential whim doesn’t necessarily apply and civil service rules may apply. However, getting the POTUS pissed off enough to want to can your ass isn’t a good thing career-wise regardless of whatever protections you might theoretically enjoy.

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