The departure, one way or another, of Rex Tillerson has been expected for months; yet, his ouster somehow felt like a surprise. So it goes with the Trump administration’s revolving door. From WaPo: In the end, no one was more surprised that Tillerson was fired than Tillerson. One thing that should surprise no one: Tillerson won’t be the last high-profile administration departure. The outgoing secretary was viewed as a moderating influence in the administration. It’s increasingly clear Trump doesn’t want those.

+ The Atlantic: “Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson disagreed on global trade, climate change, NATO, the nuclear deal with Iran, talks with North Korea, Qatar’s impasse with its neighbors, and, ultimately, even how the president fired his secretary of state.”

+ Tillerson was largely sidelined from internal White House debates. But he had a massive impact inside of his own department. Consider this: “Under Tillerson’s watch, 60 percent of State’s top-ranking career diplomats resigned and new applications to join the foreign service fell by half.” Vox: Rex Tillerson has been fired. Experts say he did damage that could last a generation. And from NYMag: The Mess Rex Tillerson Is Leaving Behind. And from Slate: An ignominious end for the most passive secretary of state in a century. (So basically, what we have here is a bad tenure followed by a worse firing.)

+ Shortly after the Sec of State was dismissed, his Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs was canned for releasing this statement about Tillerson’s firing.

+ We’re long past the point where the fact that Tillerson was fired via Tweet would come as a shock. Vice: Rex Tillerson’s Rise and Fall, as Told by Trump Tweets.