12/14/2018

MICK MULVANEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WHITE HOUSE STAFF: “President Donald Trump has announced his final choice in the chief of staff sweepstakes: Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. The announcement, made predictably via Twitter on Friday [12-14-18], ends more than a week of ‘Apprentice’-like scrambling to figure out who would replace outgoing Chief of Staff John Kelly. Nick Ayers (Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff), Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie and David Bossie were all in the mix. Mulvaney, who will serve as ‘acting’ chief of staff, brings skills to the table that might be helpful in this job under normal circumstances. He was elected as a congressman for the 5th District of South Carolina in 2010 and became part of the Tea Party Revolution on Capitol Hill. Mulvaney has fostered strong relationships with Republicans in Congress (although House Democrats don’t like him). He also has experience managing things: He is director of the Office of Management and Budget and recently stepped down as the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But skill sets don’t matter in what might be the most thankless job in Washington. The Trump White House is in turmoil and under investigation. It is run by a President who refuses to listen to any adviser and eventually turns on almost everyone around him, and is in conversation with a political party desperately trying to figure out why it should stay loyal to its leader.”

Julian Zelizer, “Why Mulvaney can’t save Trump’s chaos presidency,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 14, 2018 8:16 am