Donald Trump became famous by firing people, and Noel Francisco has no problem with him carrying that shtick into the White House. The solicitor general could soon take over for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if Rosenstein is fired or resigns. Notably, Francisco thinks it is more than legal for a president to tell almost any executive branch employee, “you’re fired.”

Francisco would oversee Robert Mueller and the Russia Investigation and that is significant because Francisco appears to have little constitutional qualms about dismissing him—at least in theory.

His arguments before the Supreme Court earlier this February must have sounded like music to Trump’s ears. It was a case specifically about the president’s ability to hire and fire administrative law judges at the Securities and Exchange Commission. More to the point, it had implications concerning whether or not Trump could give Mueller the boot.

"The president's constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the laws requires adequate authority to remove subordinate officers," Francisco told the court. "The framers understood the close connection between the president's ability to discharge his responsibilities as head of the executive branch and his control over its personnel...The president's ability to execute the law is thus inextricably linked to his authority to hold his subordinates accountable for their conduct.”

"The president is accordingly authorized under our constitutional system to remove all principal officers, as well as all 'inferior officers' he has appointed," Francisco concluded.

The Supreme Court was convinced and Francisco won 7-2.

Francisco would bring that understanding of presidential power to his supervision of the Mueller probe. With a jittery and reactionary president in the Oval Office, this understandably makes some a little nervous. But Francisco isn’t exactly a patsy.

During his first trip to the Supreme Court, Francisco actually clawed power back from the executive branch. The case was NLRB v. Noel Canning and the lawyer argued successfully that former President Barack Obama was acting lawlessly by making recess appointments during a congressional recess. This time, all nine justices agreed with Francisco.

No doubt we will learn more about Francisco from watching him in action. Dismissing the lawyer as a Trump yes-man this early though would be more than foolish. His case load shows a legal mind with a defined and consistent legal theory. Close friends told the Daily Beast that Francisco would resign rather than contradict his principles.

Expect a more active executive branch if he replaces Rosenstein. Don’t expect a lawless one just yet.