Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn't quite deny report she's quitting the White House

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, heading for the exit?

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 14 June 2018

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her top deputy, Raj Shah, "are both heading for the exits," CBS News reports, citing "sources inside the White House and close to the administration." The departures aren't necessarily imminent — Sanders "has told friends that she plans to leave the administration at the end of the year," CBS News says, and Shah "has not yet settled on an exact date." But President Trump's communications department is already understaffed, with "more departures expected in the coming weeks," a former official predicts.

Neither Shah nor Sanders "responded to repeated requests for comment before this story was published," CBS News says, and neither responded on the record when reached for comment Wednesday night. But Sanders tweeted a reply of sorts:

That isn't exactly a denial, but it isn't a resignation letter, either. And not only is there historically high turnover at the Trump White House, "nobody wants to come in," a source close to the administration told CBS News. "They've gone through two rounds and now they're at third tier of people who are just lucking out — battlefield promotion ends up promoting people who aren't qualified for the position."

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Sanders would probably deny that there's turmoil and widespread misery in the West Wing, but the White House is hosting an "Executive Branch Job Fair" for "competent conservatives" on Friday in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Politico reports. High-level White House staffers are expected to attend. "A job fair is seen as an unusual step for a White House to take," Politico notes. "Typically jobs in the executive branch are coveted career-making opportunities."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.