Do you remember when “only the best and brightest” were going to be working at Donald Trump’s side as President? I know a lot of us kind of took that as a bad joke at first, but now a days, it’s like an ironic catchphrase we use as the executive branch implodes on itself. And now with John Kelly very publicly departing as Trump comes under more and more scrutiny, it seems like Trump is having a hard time even presenting the image of having a wealth of qualified candidates chomping at the bit to fill the seat. What’s worse, his number one pick, and indeed the guy who was offered the job, Nick Ayers (currently Mike Pence’s chief-of-staff) basically said “thanks but no thanks!” and is himself getting ready to depart the White House as the walls come tumbling down. Whoever Trump ends up choosing, they’re going to have to live under the stigma of knowing full well they weren’t his first choice. And I imagine that alone might keep a few people from taking the job. Whoever ends up in that position will likely have to deal with mounting legal threats and reputational woes that transcend their time in the White House, so I really have to wonder who is desperate enough to actually say yes.