Tag: Trump staff turnover

Trump loses another White House ‘original’

The departure of a top communications official comes as the president struggles to craft a consistent message on the coronavirus outbreak.

Adam Kennedy, who led the White House’s rapid response efforts on impeachment and other crises, including Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle, is leaving the government later this month, according to two White House officials.

Kennedy, a deputy communications director who was also a deputy assistant to the president, has overseen a team of 11 communications staffers and also worked on building out messaging materials for various White House policy rollouts, including tax reform. A top research official at the Republican National Committee during 2016, he has worked in the White House since the first day of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Kennedy will be replaced by Julia Hahn, a former Breitbart writer who is currently director of rapid response and surrogate operations for the White House, according to one of the White House officials. Hahn will report to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.

Fresh leadership churn at DHS agencies

The Hill logoThe leadership carousel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took another spin this week as the agency underwent fresh changes among officials tasked with enforcing immigration law.

Roughly 10 weeks after a purge of DHS leaders that included former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abruptly resigned and the agency announced a new head of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

And there are rumblings that acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan is not on solid ground. Some of President Trump’s allies and outside groups that favor stricter immigration laws are expressing frustration with McAleenan, suggesting further changes could be on the horizon as the president seeks to implement the right mix of loyalists and immigration hardliners to implement his agenda heading into 2020.

View the complete June 30 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

Bill Shine resigns from White House to advise Trump campaign

White House communications director Bill Shine has resigned and will serve as a senior adviser to President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Friday.

Details: The announcement didn’t give a reason for Shine’s departure. The bulk of Shine’s career was spent as a producer and executive at Fox News, most recently serving as the network’s co-president.

“Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life. To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor. I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family.”

View the complete March 8 post by Gigi Sukin on the Axios website here.

Marc Short Creates Another Void in the White House

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website July 12, 2018:

Trump has ‘highest turnover of top-tier staff of any recent president,’ professor says

Marc Short, White House legislative affairs director, outside the Senate Republican policy lunches in the Capitol in January. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo

White House legislative affairs director Marc Short will leave his post this summer after helping President Donald Trump secure tax cuts, a Supreme Court justice, eliminate part of the Obama-era health law, open the Arctic for energy extraction, and nix a slew of federal regulations.

Short — with his signature shaved head — was the most visible Trump administration official on Capitol Hill, often chatting with reporters as he traversed the hallways going from meetings with leadership and rank-and-file members about the president’s legislative whims and demands. Affable yet firm, Short seemed eager to joust with reporters on cable news, the Hill and even under the blistering summer sun in the White House’s north driveway.

During a recent conversation on a hot day following a television interview on the White House grounds with Roll Call and other media outlets, Short would not deny speculation that he would soon leave his post. His coming departure marks only the latest in original Trump White House and administration departures, which the Brookings Institution and other experts say is much higher than past administrations.

View the complete article on the Roll Call website here.

The evisceration of the Trump administration, by the numbers

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website April 10, 2018:

On the first weekday after President Trump was inaugurated — Monday, Jan. 22, 2017 — Trump joined Vice President Pence and a couple dozen incoming staffers for a White House ceremony swearing in his new team. The staffers raised their right hands and formally committed to serving the 45th president of the United States.

Of the 23 people we know took an oath that day, 14 have resigned, been fired or announced their resignations. The 14th was Tom Bossert, Trump’s homeland security adviser, whose departure was announced Tuesday. A 15th, Andrew Bremberg, Trump’s domestic policy adviser, was reportedly looking to exit several months ago but remains in his position. Continue reading “The evisceration of the Trump administration, by the numbers”

Departing Trump officials leave a damning image

The following commentary by Michael Gerson was posted on the Washington Post webstie April 5, 2018:

President Trump set a record for White House staff turnover in the first year. Here’s an ongoing list of staff who have quit or been fired under Trump. (Joyce Koh/Washington Post)

From a presidential administration’s appointments we learn how it views itself. From an administration’s departures we learn how it conducts itself. Honesty comes easier to those with little left to lose.

In this regard, the Trump administration offers much to analyze. The pace of disillusioned exits is rapid. And what the departing have chosen to emphasize reveals much about daily life in the executive branch. Continue reading “Departing Trump officials leave a damning image”

The Trump White House is a place where turmoil never ends

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website February 28, 2018:

President Trump set a record for White House staff turnover in the first year. Here’s an ongoing list of staff who have quit or been fired under Trump. (Joyce Koh/Washington Post)

President Trump promised many things as a candidate in 2016. He would drain the swamp. He would appoint only the best people. He would be a dealmaker par excellence. After 13 months in office, he has yet to truly make good on those pledges.

The president said that his business skills and outsider status would allow him to make the changes he argued that the nation’s capital needed — and that many of his supporters saw as necessary. His tenure has underscored that running a business, especially a family business, is far different from running a government. Continue reading “The Trump White House is a place where turmoil never ends”