New chief of staff marches into role
WASHINGTON — Retired Marine general John Kelly is a battle-hardened commander who will bring a background of military discipline and order to US President Donald Trump’s White House as the new chief of staff.
Kelly’s experience as Homeland Security secretary and a veteran of three tours in Iraq along with a sobering family tragedy suggests he will be a loyal manager for Trump when he starts the job on Monday.
Kelly was appointed after his predecessor Reince Priebus was removed from his post by Trump on Friday.
“He has been a true star of my administ r a t i o n ,” the president tweeted when announcing the decision. Trump called Kelly a “great leader” and a “great American”. He called Priebus, ousted after a tumultuous six months, a “good man”.
As Homeland Security secretary, Kelly has taken the lead on some of Trump’s most controversial policies, including his executive orders suspending the admission of refugees and temporarily barring visitors from several Muslim-majority nations. Those orders have been stripped down by courts pending a Supreme Court review this fall.
Kelly has also stood up to Congress, another facet of his history that Trump might find attractive.
For his part, Priebus said in a statement that he will “continue to serve as a strong supporter of the president’s agenda and policies,” and that he “can’t think of a better person than General John Kelly to succeed me.”
The resignation of Priebus came a week after Trump recruited Anthony Scaramucci as the communications director and the subsequent resignation of White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Scaramucci has openly accused Priebus of leaking inside information to the press and threatened to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice to shore up the leaks.
Priebus is the fourth high level White House official to leave the Trump administration since inauguration.
Before Spicer and Priebus, former national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned in February over allegations of improper contacts with Russia, and former White House communications director Mike Dubke resigned in May.
Kelly, 67, has won bipartisan respect from lawmakers as a result of his distinguished military career. He joined the Marine Corps in 1970, carving out a reputation as a highly respected but often outspoken commander.
Kelly was credited in his tenure as secretary of Homeland Security for reducing illegal border crossings and enforcing travel bans targeting citizens of six Muslim countries.
However, he also holds a somber distinction. He was the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly, was killed in November 2010 in Afghanistan.