signs point to yes
Is Mick Mulvaney terrible at his job?
Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney may still be "acting" for a good reason.
Mulvaney started his possibly temporary job on a low note, persuading President Trump to hold out on ending what turned out to be the longest government shutdown of all time. Now, he's apparently leading Trump's out-of-the-blue push to repeal ObamaCare — a move that doesn't look too promising either, Politico reports.
Mulvaney took over for Chief of Staff John Kelly in mid-December, and just a week later, the government was already in crisis mode. From his first days in office, Mulvaney had reportedly pushed Trump to refuse any budget deal that didn't include border funding. Yet the subsequent shutdown dragged on, and when Mulvaney finally tried to convince Trump to make amends, Trump reportedly snapped, saying "You just f--ked it all up, Mick."
Now, it seems Mulvaney is putting himself in another tricky spot. Channeling one of his biggest goals from his days as a South Carolina GOP congressmember, Mulvaney is reportedly behind Trump's renewed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Attorney General William Barr and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar are against the idea, three sources tell Politico.
Republicans in Congress, meanwhile, are just confused. They couldn't repeal the law with a unified Congress in 2017, and now, with a Democratic-held House, it looks even less likely. Still, Mulvaney is reportedly convinced that a "bold stance would force Congress" to take action, Politico says. Read more about Mulvaney's likely blunder at Politico.