real good question. So just WHY doesn’t Biden start firing people? Well, there are reasons…
The reason Republicans have the talking point that Joe Biden is not fully in command of his White House is because Joe Biden is not fully in command of his White House. As Kyle Smith observed, if Biden was really in charge, he could fire anyone he felt was undermining him.
Yes, he certainly could. Buuuuut,
There are two overlapping reasons why he hasn’t done that: He isn’t willing to stand up to his own staff, and at some level, he grasps that they keep walking back things that he should never have said in the first place. [Second] If you have spent much time around elderly men with declining faculties, you will recognize the all-too-common pattern of lashing out because they need help for things they could once do themselves, rather than being thankful for the help.
In fact, Biden has been remarkably averse to firing anyone. It was once common practice in D.C. to make underlings walk the plank as a way of not only deflecting blame, but also showing that the president was serious about holding people accountable if they failed the voters.
It forcibly reminds me of a line from Wodehouse’s Wooster And Jeeves when Jeeves first got there (from memory, so approximate):
Wooster (in clothes Jeeves chose over his–Wooster’s–objections): I’m not one of those guys who are absolute slaves to their Valets.
Jeeves: Oh, no indeed sir!
Biden wants to make as if he is tough. But he certainly isn’t taking the reins and firing people. And it is clear why…
Bertie Wooster is a lot like “Bertie” Biden: His head is more for show than for performance. But at least Wooster knew it and even said it outright! Biden, on the other hand, still pretends that it is otherwise…
Bertie Wooster Biden; Note to self–that really fits!