ANOTHER TOP RAUNER STAFFER OUT
Rasmussen spent 88 days in post amid ‘ turbulence,’ ‘ wild times’
After just 88 days in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, former Illinois Policy Institute head Kristina Rasmussen is out as the governor’s chief of staff — leaving a job she said she knew would be “rife with promise but would come with a lot of turbulence.”
Rauner credited her with “outstanding work” in “very challenging, wild times.”
Her departure comes just a week after Rauner signed House Bill 40, a controversial abortion trigger law, which Rasmussen and many other conservative Republicans vehemently oppose.
She will be replaced by Rodger Heaton, the governor’s director of public safety and Homeland Security adviser. Heaton takes charge on Monday.
The governor announced Rasmussen’s exit on Friday. In a staff phone call, Rasmussen said she’s leaving to start an initiative focusing on an antiunion, right- to- work case that Rauner pioneered that is now heading to the U. S. Supreme Court. She will remain on the governor’s staff until next Friday “to help ensure a smooth transition.”
Rauner in the call said Rasmussen was leaving “to pursue her dream, a very exciting opportunity.”
“You’ve done outstanding work for the months that you served. Very challenging, wild times, and we appreciate it,” Rauner said.
Rasmussen recalled being called to take over as chief of staff, saying she was “a little taken back” and knew that it was “rife with promise but would come with a lot of turbulence.”
“I’m going back into the private sector to lead a new initiative thatwill leverage one of his other greatest victories, that of the Janus v. AFSCME fair share case that was just picked up by theUnited States Supreme Court,” Rasmussen said during the call. “So whether we are inside of government or outside of government there’s so much opportunity for us to change policy and change lives for the better. ”
Rasmussen said she had “two key responsibilities” during her tenure: to “refresh the staff” and to deal with the school funding crisis.
“As I look back now, to threemonths in, I can say with great pride that I discharged both of those duties faithfully with your help,” Rasmussen told staffers.
Rauner called his new chief of staff a “superstar.” That’s a term he’s called many former staffers and appointees, many of whom are no longer within the administration, including former chief operating officer Linda Lingle, education secretary Beth Purvis and budget adviser Donna Arduin.
On the call, Heaton credited Rasmussen with building a “terrific team.”
“That was a difficult job to do at amidpoint of the administration. . . . I thinkyou’veput a great team together.”
Despite the negative perception of such a short term — with Rauner in crisis mode during most of that time— the governor in a statement said Rasmussen had “delivered on all fronts.” He said she made “significant improvements” . . . “in a very compressed and challenging time.”
Although Michael Lucci, also a former Illinois Policy Institute staffer, remains in the administration’s policy department, no other top posts remain filled by members of the conservative think tank. The group’s current CEO John Tillman, once a close friend and adviser to Rauner, dubbed the governor “Benedict Rauner” in a Facebook post last week for signing the abortion bill.
He also sounded off on Rasmussen’s exit on Friday while crediting her for her work with “the three biggest accomplishments the Rauner campaign cites,” including the Janus right to work case; right- to- work in Lincolnshire and in helping to get a private tax school scholarship into a school funding bill.
But Rauner’s former ally also took a shot at the governor and first lady DianaRauner: “Regarding the governor’s office, organizational culture starts at the top and it is my hope that the governor reflects on the events of the last two years, is self accountable and finally has found a chief of staff that can work within the rather unusual dynamics he and his wife create,” Tillman wrote on Facebook.
“. . . As to whether this governor can turn his administration around, the jury is still out and the odds are long,” Tillman wrote.
The Rauner administration shake- up began July 10 when Rauner unexpectedly fired his chief of staff, Richard Goldberg. Goldberg was swiftly replaced by Rasmussen, former president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. That sparked the exits of at least 20 employees, many of whom left because they didn’t believe in the direction the governor was taking in hiring members of the conservative think tank.
Rauner’s new chief of staff is a former U. S. attorney for central Illinois. Besides serving as Rauner’s public safety director andHomeland Security adviser, Heaton also was chairman of the Statewide Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform.
In the call to staffers, Heaton said, as chief of staff, he’d focus on the “structural reforms” Rauner has been fighting for.
“We’re still committed to the structural reforms that you’ve been talking to the people in the state for years now. There is a lot of work to do, and I think Kristina is right, it’s going to be a challenge for us in some respects. But I think this is a team that can get it done,” Heaton said.