“The Ross victory is a little suspect,” Gail wrote, “since it came right after he gave an interview in which he expressed befuddlement about why furloughed government workers were going to food banks and homeless shelters when they could — you know, just go see their banker and take out a loan.”

“Do you think he was making a play for first place?” she asked.

Well, now he seems to be making a play for a repeat victory.

Yesterday, The Times reported that Ross threatened to fire top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency responsible for weather forecasts, because the agency’s Birmingham office contradicted Trump’s erroneous claim that Alabama was at risk of being hit by Hurricane Dorian.

As you may recall, the Birmingham office made the original statement because it was worried that people were at risk of harm. Needlessly fleeing one’s home — and in the case of Alabamians last week, potentially heading into the path of a storm — isn’t a great idea. Evidently, though, Ross thought the officials put too much emphasis on human life and not enough on Trump’s image.

I should add that Ross already had a fairly strong case to be a repeat winner for Worst Cabinet Member, given his handling of the Census Bureau’s attempt to add a citizenship question. (The short version: He lied to Congress about the white nationalist motives for doing so.) Then again, next year is still almost four months away, so there is plenty of time for somebody else to give him some competition.