Reading News 4U: More departures on horizon for struggling White House staff
Sunday, January 07, 2018
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| President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff John Kelly, left, and White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short, second from left, walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, to travel with President Donald Trump to Camp David in Maryland. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) |
VietPress USA (Jan. 7th, 2018): The first year in office of President Trump passed in the shadow of Russia probe. Many advisers, Aids got charged and left the White House. Entering the New Year, Trump expects Jeff Sessions to protect him personally from Russia probe. There will be some other departures from Trump's staff and others will come in to fill up the vacancies.
Read the news on Yahoo News at:
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| FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, Trump deputy chief of staff for policy, Rick Dearborn, left, and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, right, walk down the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. Already setting records for staff departures, President Donald Trump is facing even more in his second year, along with an increasing struggle to fill vacancies in an administration shadowed by the unrelenting Russia probe, formidable congressional challenges and Trump's own low poll numbers. Dearborn is expected to leave the West Wing in coming months. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) |
More departures on horizon for struggling White House staff
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| FILE - In this July 19, 2017, file photo, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short talks to the media during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington. Short, head of legislative affairs, has also expanded his portfolio, as the administration, already setting records for staff departures is facing even more in Trump's second year, along with an increasing struggle to fill vacancies in an administration shadowed by the unrelenting Russia probe, formidable congressional challenges and Trump's own low poll numbers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Already setting turnover records, President Donald Trump's White House is bracing for even more staff departures and an increasing struggle to fill vacancies, shadowed by the unrelenting Russia probe, political squabbling and Trump's own low poll numbers.
Entering a grueling year that is sure to bring fresh challenges at home and abroad, Trump faces a brain drain across a wide swath of government functions, threatening to hamstring efforts to enact legislation or conduct even basic operations. Some departures are expected to come from senior ranks — the staff churn that makes headlines — but more are likely among the lesser-known officials who help to keep the White House and Cabinet agencies running.
In Trump's first year, his administration's upper-level officials have had a turnover rate of 34 percent, much higher than any other in the past 40 years, according to an analysis by Kathryn Dunn-Tenpas, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The study found that 22 of the 64 senior officials she tracked have resigned, been fired or reassigned.
Anecdotal evidence among more junior officials — the White House wouldn't release data — suggests similar departure rates, and White House aides acknowledge difficulty filling roles in the administration.
The presidency with the next-highest first-year turnover rate was Ronald Reagan's, with 17 percent of senior aides leaving in 1981. And Trump's first-year rate is three times Bill Clinton's 11 percent and Barack Obama's 9 percent.
"This is very unusual. It's significant because the prior administration that had the greatest turnover was Reagan and Trump doubled it," said Dunn-Tenpas, who will update her preliminary data on the anniversary of Trump's inauguration. "Moreover, there are more senior-level departures, including the chief of staff, the press secretary and the national security adviser."
Those were Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and Michael Flynn, all long gone.
New power players in the West Wing may not yet be household names, but they will likely help shape the fortunes of Trump's 2018. Johnny DeStefano, a White House aide and Beltway insider who once worked for former House Speaker John Boehner, has now taken on oversight of the White House political operation in addition to his other duties, according to an administration official not authorized to speak publicly about personnel matters.
DeStefano gained Trump's trust in weekly meetings discussing hiring across the administration, an official said, and is expected to take on a broader role in guiding political affairs in the midterm election year.
DeStefano is working alongside political director Bill Stepien, who came under fire after a series of White House missteps in the recent Alabama Senate race, which gave the Democrats their first Senate seat there in a generation.
In a heated White House meeting last month, some Trump allies — including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski — argued that the political shop was failing the president, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The allies warned that if the Democrats were to seize control of the House this November, they could begin impeachment proceedings that would imperil Trump's presidency.
"Donald Trump is all about results, and if he thinks things are going positive and well, I think that redounds to the team," said Trump friend Chris Ruddy, head of the conservative news site NewsMax, who spent time with the president in Florida over the holidays. "But if the approval numbers don't improve, I think he'll make changes to improve things. That's his way."
Much of the staff turnover in recent months was driven by John Kelly, who began his tenure as chief of staff by cracking down on internal rivalries and dismissing attention-seeking aides like Omarosa Manigault-Newman. Kelly has already quietly tapped Jim Carroll as deputy chief of staff, replacing Kirstjen Nielsen, the new Homeland Security secretary. Marc Short, head of legislative affairs, has also expanded his portfolio. Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn is expected to leave the West Wing in coming months.
Other aides who are leaving — including deputy national security adviser Dina Powell — have not been forced out, but rather are departing around the one-year mark, a relatively common practice in other White Houses. Powell is to be replaced by Nadia Schadlow, a confidante of National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster who oversaw the president's first National Security Strategy document.
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