With Priebus and Bannon out, Congress and the White House aren't really talking


White House staffing shake-ups have created a communications void between the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, The Hill reports, citing unnamed GOP sources.
Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, both of whom were fired this summer, were the primary contacts for Capitol Hill staff and legislators seeking to coordinate the Republican agenda with the Trump team. Bannon has yet to be replaced, and the new chief of staff, John Kelly, lacks the established personal relationships Priebus had cultivated for years.
"There is great respect for John Kelly but no real belief that anyone else can effectively carry out the Trump agenda until Kelly replaces Bannon with a conservative leader," one House Republican explained to The Hill. "Kelly is definitely a huge force, but I don't know him," said another. While Vice President Mike Pence has good relationships with many lawmakers, some legislators prefer to reach out to Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney, a former representative, to avoid bothering Pence about smaller matters.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
The selection to fill Bannon's shoes will be key to re-establishing rapport between congressional and executive branch Republicans, sources told The Hill. The current situation has raised concerns that President Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner — hardly staunch conservatives — are now the dominant advising voices in the White House.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US