White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says that President Trump wants a chief of staff who believes in his America-first agenda.
Sarah Sanders weighs in on chief of staff situation
With the announcement that General John Kelly is resigning as White House chief of staff, the search is on for someone to run the Trump White House while doing their best to meet the President’s demands.
It was rumored that Nick Ayers, current chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, would take the position. But he declined earlier this week. (RELATED: Ayers Declines Chief of Staff Job, Trump Reportedly Considering Mark Meadows.)
So the search continues. Now, Sarah Sanders, President Trump’s main defender to the press, has spoken up and is letting any potential COS candidates know what the President is looking for.
From Roll Call:
“I think he brought a lot of structure to the White House that was needed at the time he came in,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of his second chief of staff. “That being said, I think the president is looking for somebody who believes in what we’re doing.”
Sarah Sanders suggests John Kelly should have hashed out gripes with the president “behind closed doors” https://t.co/Jq5kHPeOJ3
— Roll Call (@rollcall) December 11, 2018
Chief of staff candidates
Luckily, there is at least one individual who is a firm backer of the Trump agenda who is vying for the job. Mark Meadows, the conservative congressman from North Carolina, has said he’s willing to take the job. (RELATED Mark Meadows Open to Being Trump’s Chief of Staff.)
According to Reuters, Trump is also considering 10-12 other candidates to lead his White House. These other candidates include Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former campaign advisor Dave Bossie, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The necessity of a chief of staff who agrees with Trump
Regardless of whom Trump ultimately picks as his new chief of staff, one thing is certain: He or she needs to actually support the President’s agenda. John Kelly, a four-star Marine general, is a honorable man but he was never fully on board with the America-first prerogatives of the President. He was caught expressing frustration with Trump in public multiple times. Likewise with Reince Preibus, the erstwhile head of the Republican National Committee and the President’s first chief of staff, Kelly came from the establishment world of politics, which loathed Trump.
If Trump wants any shot at getting pieces of his agenda completed in the last part of his first term, he needs a chief who actually believes in what the White House is doing.
Trump’s first two chiefs of staff were anathema to his kind of populist politics. He shouldn’t make the same mistake a third time.
