With this in mind, it was of great interest to see Brian Morrissey, the Treasury Department’s top lawyer, resign immediately after the deal was announced, just seven months into his tenure.

Though Morrissey didn’t comment publicly on why he was quitting, there’s been some additional reporting on his motivations. The New York Times reported:

The top lawyer at the Treasury Department, Brian Morrissey, resigned on Monday over his concerns about the resolution to Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S., three people familiar with his thinking said.

The reporting has not been independently verified by MS NOW, though if the Times’ account is correct, it would suggest the timing — the administration announced the deal on Monday afternoon, and Morrissey exited the administration unexpectedly just hours later — was not a coincidence, his silence about his motivations notwithstanding.....

Eleven months later, political considerations surrounding the IRS seemed rather obvious.

If recent history is any guide, the White House will likely admonish Morrissey as some kind of “RINO” (“Republican in name only”), though it’s worth emphasizing that he was a Trump appointee who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Nothing about his record screams “moderate.”

As for the larger pattern, examples of Trump administration officials resigning in protest are rare — it made Joe Kent’s departure in March as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center stand out — which makes the Times’ reporting on Morrissey that much more notable.