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."
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.
-
Band Aid 40: time to change the tune?In the Spotlight Band Aid's massively popular 1984 hit raised around £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia and the charity has generated over £140m in total
-
Starmer vs the farmers: who will win?Today's Big Question As farmers and rural groups descend on Westminster to protest at tax changes, parallels have been drawn with the miners' strike 40 years ago
-
How secure are royal palaces?The Explainer Royal family's safety is back in the spotlight after the latest security breach at Windsor
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in RussiaSpeed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
-
Sri Lanka's new Marxist leader wins huge majoritySpeed Read The left-leaning coalition of newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 159 of the legislature's 225 seats
-
Biden arrives in Peru for final summitsSpeed Read President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, visit the Amazon rainforest and attend two major international summits
-
Senate GOP selects Thune, House GOP keeps JohnsonSpeed Read John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader, and Mike Johnson will remain House speaker in Congress
-
Trump tests GOP loyalty with Gaetz, Gabbard picksSpeed Read He named Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Both have little experience in their proposed jurisdictions.
-
Pentagon Discord leaker gets 15 years in prisonSpeed Read Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member, leaked classified military documents
-
Saudi crown prince slams Israeli 'genocide' in GazaSpeed Read Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions
-
Trump fills key slots, tapping Congress, MAGA loyalistsSpeed Read The president-elect continues to fill his administration with new foreign policy, environment and immigration roles assigned
