White House acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney is expected to step down from his post once the Senate finishes its impeachment trial, Politico reported Thursday.
Aides to President Trump and other allies have been urging Mulvaney’s ouster and for several weeks have been suggesting replacements. Meanwhile, Mulvaney is not driving impeachment strategy and has been sidelined in policy and staffing decisions.
“He is there. I’ll leave it at that,” a Republican close to the administration told Politico. “He’s like a kid. His role at the dinner table is to be seen and not heard.”
Democrats pounced on Mulvaney in November when the acting chief-of-staff made comments at a press briefing that seemed to assert Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to coerce the opening of politically advantageous investigations. Mulvaney backtracked the next day.
“Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election,” Mulvaney said on November 17 in a statement. “The president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server.”
Representative Mark Meadows (R., N.C.), a staunch Trump ally who announced on Thursday he would not seek reelection, has been eyed in the White House as a potential successor to Mulvaney. However, it is doubtful that President Trump will be looking for a “traditional” chief-of-staff, one Trump ally suggested.
“The president does not want a traditional chief of staff, plus there is Jared,” the Trump ally said. “There are already two chiefs: the president and his son-in-law. There is no room for a third.”