White House staffers are incredibly anxious about the imminent departure of Hope Hicks

Hope Hicks' departure is imminent, and staffers are reportedly worried about what will befall the communications team after she's gone.

Hicks, a close confidante of President Trump's, resigned as White House communications director last month. CBS News reports that she will finish out the week before leaving White House staffers in the lurch.

"She's the glue to the entire place," an anonymous White House source told CBS News. "She helps keep the White House from fracturing. I don't think people realize what's about to happen once she leaves."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Staffers say that Hicks functioned as a liaison between the president and other staffers who didn't understand his unconventional ways. Whoever steps in to replace Hicks, sources say, will likely not be as beloved by Trump — and will surely not quell the communications department chaos in the way that Hicks did.

Top contenders to replace Hicks include Tony Sayegh, a Treasury Department spokesman; Mercedes Schlapp, director of strategic communications; and Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. But White House staffers don't think the choice for Hicks' successor matters much, reports CBS News: "The job is already filled," a former White House official said. "It's filled by the president."