Scaramucci is out as new White House chief moves in
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Firmly taking charge in the White House, former Gen. John Kelly moved in Monday as President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff and immediately made sure that Trump’s new communications director was shown the door, ousted after less than two weeks on the job.
Trump dismissed any talk of disarray. He insisted in a morning tweet there was “No WH chaos,” then followed up in the evening with a satisfied “great day at the White House.”
Aiming to instill some discipline in the White House, Kelly showed Anthony Scaramucci the door just days after the new communications director had unleashed an expletive-laced tirade against senior staff members that included vulgar broadsides at then-chief of staff Reince Priebus. In short order, Priebus was pushed aside and replaced by Kelly, whose arrival led in turn to Scaramucci’s departure.
Scaramucci’s exit underscored the challenges that Kelly, the former homeland security chief, faces in bringing order to a West Wing where a wide swath of aides have reported directly to the president, feeling free to walk into Trump’s Oval Office or buttonhole him in the hallway to lobby for conflicting agendas.
And then there is the president himself, who uses tweets at all hours to make new policy announcements, insult critics and even go after fellow Republicans who don’t toe his line.
On Kelly’s first day, the White House put out word that the retired four-star general had free rein to tighten the chain of command.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Kelly “has the full authority to carry out business as he sees fit” and that all White House staffers will report to him, including powerful aides such as Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Kelly “will bring new structure, discipline and strength” to the White House, she said.
The chief of staff took his oath of office early Monday in an Oval Office ceremony thronged by senior staffers, including Scaramucci. But a short time later, Kelly told the communications director he was out, leading Scaramucci to offer his resignation instead, according to four White House staffers and outside advisers not authorized to speak publicly about personnel matters.
In the brief words of the White House announcement, Scaramucci was leaving because he “felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team.” The three-sentence release concluded, “We wish him all the best.”
The statement revived the “clean slate” language that former White House press secretary Sean Spicer had used to describe his own reason for resigning on the day Trump brought Scaramucci aboard.
Scaramucci was escorted from the White House grounds, becoming yet another highranking official to leave an administration that is barely beyond the sixmonth mark. He was the third person to hold the communications director title in that time.
While in most administrations the chief of staff closely manages the president’s time and others’ access to the Oval Office, Priebus never was able to prevent Trump from continuing the same disorderly style he had created atop his business.
Scaramucci had been blocked from joining the administration during the transition by Priebus, only eventually to be hired by Trump last week. That decision, over the objections of Priebus and Bannon, led to the resignation of Spicer and fueled Scaramucci’s profane vows of vengeance against White House staffers who had opposed him or leaked to the press.
Days of negative news coverage of Scaramucci’s crass rant did not sit well with the president.
“The president certainly felt that Anthony’s comments were inappropriate for a person in his position,” Sanders said when asked about the ouster.