The Trump administration is in the midst of yet another shake-up. By year’s end, chief of staff John Kelly will depart. He follows Reince Priebus in leaving a difficult post.
Initially, Vice President Mike Pence’s own chief of staff, Nick Ayers, was a top contender for the position, but he has declined to focus on his family. At present, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and others are under consideration.
Filling the role of the executive wrangler is never an easy task, no matter the politics. However, that role under President Trump must be an especially arduous one. Because of that, I can’t blame those who have either turned it down in a more public way, like Ayers, or rejected it in private.
More than other administrations, this White House is not so much defined by the policy enacted during the president’s term but by the personality of the man in the Oval Office. Trump’s demeanor is unbridled, and even a retired Marine Corps general such as John Kelly struggles with it. This reality must make the usually enviable position of chief of staff to the president less appealing to those climbing the ladder of political success. Any tenure, however brief, as Trump’s right-hand man has long-lasting consequences not seen by others who inhabited the same role in previous years.
During the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Trump promised to hire “the best people” for his administration. The “best people” have included Michael Flynn, who is embroiled in his own Russia-related legal troubles; Steve Bannon, a figure of prominence among the alt-right; Tom Price, who spent taxpayer money on private travel; Omarosa Manigault Newman, an explosive reality star who only sought more fame; Rob Porter, who is dealing with domestic abuse allegations; and Scott Pruitt, who engaged in various misconducts.
The president’s own judgment of character is sorely lacking. In addition, if a Trump administration official leaves without some sort of taint to his or her name, they still may be subject to flat-out ridicule by their former boss. On Friday, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson experienced that very thing.
Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018
Trump’s further descent into public displays of classlessness is proof that his chief of staff is increasingly ineffective when it matters most. This may be despite their best efforts at filtering his words and actions, but most likely, we’ll never know.
As this administration moves into the last half of these first four years, there is growing resistance among both the electorate and within the halls of Congress. The small blue wave brought on by the midterm elections signals a shift, however slight it may be, toward voters embracing Republican opposition. Those results will usher in a new power struggle on Capitol Hill. With Democrats in control of the House, they will focus on investigating the president and using their subpoena power to help accomplish that goal.
Come January, the landscape will change. Since more turmoil is in the foreseeable future, the president’s chief of staff must be able to weather the growing storms on both fronts. Internally, he or she must counter the executive’s behavior with a measure of control and common sense. On top of that, the external pressures will be greater than before with a new Democrat majority in the House and the 2020 election on the horizon.
In addition, the president’s track record of hiring good people, retaining them for an appropriate length of time, and speaking of these individuals well after they’ve gone is a poor one, indeed.
Especially now, being chief of staff to the most powerful man in the world is an uncertain, contentious, and thankless one at best.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a senior contributor at RedState.com.
