Trump’s NZ deputy chief of staff staying on for transition

AUCKLAND: New Zealander Chris Liddell has decided to stay on at the White House to help with the transition to Presidentelect Joe Biden’s administration.

The deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump has been in charge of the presidential transition process for the past nine months.

Liddell and national security adviser Robert O’Brien had been considering resigning after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol buildings.

But both have come under pressure to stay on to ensure a smooth transition to the Biden administration, which is due to take power on January 20.

“The transition of power from one administration to another is essential for the continuous operation of the Federal Government and is therefore critical to the country,” Liddell told the Weekend Herald.

“The planning of the transition has been my priority for the past several months, and for the next 12 days my focus is leading the successful transition to the new administration.”

Yesterday, Liddell sent a memo to Cabinet agencies advising political appointees to prepare to resign on January 20.

“As we prepare for a transition of power, we must take appropriate measures to ensure this is done in an orderly manner,” the memo said.

“Traditionally, presidential appointees in nonterm positions have been asked to submit formal letters of resignation. All presidential appointees must submit a letter of resignation to President Donald J. Trump with a departure date of no later than 12pm on January 20, 2021.”

A White House official described the letter as part of the normal transition process. But a wellplaced observer said the memo should have gone out last month, but was held up by Trump’s refusal to concede to Biden, which only happened yesterday after the Congress and

Senate certified the results of the election.

Liddell reached the top echelons of US business, serving as chief financial officer of Microsoft and vicechairman of General Motors before becoming an Assistant to the President after Trump’s inauguration.

Bloomberg confirmed Trump risked losing many of his White

House staff to mass resignations but top officials had decided to stay on.

“Most of Trump’s senior staff considered quitting following the incident at the Capitol, according to people familiar with the matter,” it reported.

“But officials including national security adviser Robert O’Brien, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Liddell were concerned about what would unfold if they left early, the people said.” — The New Zealand Herald