A man who would call up Michael Flynn at 3 a.m. to ask if a stronger or weaker dollar is "better" probably shouldn't demote his economic advisers, but that's exactly what Trump has done.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Trump has effectively demoted the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and the council's chairman won't be a member of the cabinet.
The diminished stature for the CEA, which was part of President Barack Obama’s cabinet and has advised presidents for over seven decades on the economic impact of their policies, means Trump will likely rely more heavily on other advisers, such as Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president who is head of the National Economic Council, and Peter Navarro, the trade critic who is leading the National Trade Council.
If I were Cohn or Navarro I would be discouraged because this means Trump will probably dial them at 3 a.m. at some point.
Snark aside, Trump's retreat inward will further reduce the already paltry diversity of opinion afforded to him and increase the likelihood that his administration will fuck things up.
For Trump's cabinet members, this also means the buck will stop with them, because we all know nothing is ever Trump's fault. His cabinet members will be held singularly responsible for things that go wrong.