In all my time writing about politics, I’ve never come across anyone in an administration or Capitol Hill who, if quoted anonymously, doesn’t request to be identified as a “senior” official. Indeed, this op-ed writer could be almost anyone, including someone who’s No. 3 or No. 4 at a cabinet agency. That’s why, even though this is a coup for the New York Times, it still could backfire if the senior official, when he or she is identified, doesn’t strike most people as very senior. One key reference in the op-ed is to a conversation with a “top official,” not “another top official” or a “colleague,” which seems to strongly suggests that the author isn’t himself a cabinet official. (If it’s Jon Huntsman, by the way, as Jim Geraghty guesses, it would be someone who is indeed senior but not anywhere near the inner circle.)