The departure of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff has drawn some polarizing responses

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is undergoing a staff shakeup, The Intercept reports.

Her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, is leaving to go work for New Consensus, a nonprofit focused on climate issues that's promoting the Green New Deal, albeit not always smoothly. Ocasio-Cortez's communications director, Corbin Trent, will also depart the congresswoman's office and take over communications for her 2020 campaign, instead.

Ocasio-Cortez's office said the changes are not a result of trying to mend things with Democratic Party leadership, specifically with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), with whom she has traded barbs in the past (both lawmakers have downplayed the tensions); Chakrabarti, in particular, was mired in some of the controversy. Instead, Trent said Chakrabarti's goal "has always been to do whatever he can to help the larger progressive movement," hence his shift to climate action.

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Still, that hasn't stopped observers from speculating, or at least connecting the dots between the news and past incidents, which has led to some praise for Ocasio-Cortez.

Not everyone was quite so dismissive about Chakrabarti's departure, though, as some viewed him as a game-changer in Washington. Tim O'Donnell