Trump is reportedly eyeing Mick Mulvaney as a possible replacement for John Kelly


John Kelly is still the White House chief of staff and has made no moves to leave, but that doesn't mean President Trump's not already looking for his replacement.
Over the last several weeks, Trump has been asking current and former advisers and aides what they think about Mick Mulvaney, the conservative former congressman who oversees the Office of Management and Budget and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Politico reports. Mulvaney and Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, are the two leading candidates to take Kelly's place, should he make an exit, several people said. "No one can imagine what the end of John Kelly looks like," one former White House official told Politico, but "if the president sees plausible people next in line for the job, that does change his calculus a bit."
Mulvaney has reportedly been telling Republicans outside of the White House to put in a good word for him with Trump, and he's gone golfing with the president several times. When former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was ousted last July, Trump already knew he wanted Kelly to replace him, and he is not that certain now, officials said. "Mulvaney is not a big personality and is not someone everyone in the building will rally around, but I don't see a big personality coming in either," a former administration official told Politico. "Trump takes all of the oxygen in the room."
Subscribe to 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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
Today's Big Question Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
-
Glastonbury and the BBC: time for a change?
Talking Point Furore over Bob Vylan broadcast could 'mark the end' for streaming festival live
-
Hotels with kitchen gardens for a foodie weekend away
The Week Recommends Feast on seasonal produce straight from the veg patch at these country retreats
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders