RNC layoffs follow Trump’s takeover of committee
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's makeover of the Republican National Committee is now in full force, with layoffs of more than 60 people and plans to move some operations to South Florida. The moves come as Trump announces that “freeing” the Jan. 6 prisoners are part of a first-day agenda that includes sealing the border and increasing oil and gas production.
The RNC upheaval arrives less than a week after party members elected a new leadership team of allies to the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The new team is sending dismissal notices to around 60 people across the RNC's political, data and communications departments, according to two people familiar with the plans; some employees will be allowed to re-apply for their jobs.
The new RNC also plans to move digital and fundraising teams to South Florida, near the ex-president's Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, sources said, part of an effort to align the Trump campaign with the RNC.
RNC members elected Michael Whatley as their new chair on Friday, along with the former president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump as cochair. Whatley, a close Trump supporter, previously served as the North Carolina Republican Party state chair.
The committee shake-up highlights some concerns that the Republican party and RNC will become a Trump-focused fundraising machine.
Chris LaCivita, who now works for the RNC as well as the Trump presidential campaign, previewed the changes last week.
During the meeting in Houston at which the new leaders were elected, LaCivita told reporters that the RNC would not look the same moving forward: “There's obviously going to be changes.”