WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday picked budget director Mick Mulvaney to be his next chief of staff, ending a chaotic search that had been inching forward with the feel of an unfolding reality TV show.
Trump tweeted that Mulvaney “will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction.”
“Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration,” Trump posted. “I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! John will be staying until the end of the year. He is a GREAT PATRIOT and I want to personally thank him for his service!“
Though deemed an “acting” chief of staff, Mulvaney’s term will be open-ended, according to a senior White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. The position does not require confirmation.
Mulvaney, who will be Trump’s third chief of staff, will now take on his third job in the administration; he is the head of the Office of Management and had simultaneously led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A former Tea Party congressman, was among a faction on the hard right that bullied GOP leaders into a 2013 government shutdown confrontation by insisting on lacing a must-pass spending bill with provisions designed to cripple President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
The appointment of the affable, fast-talking South Carolinian came just hours after another candidate for the post, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, took himself out of contention for the job. Christie cited family reasons in a statement saying that he was asking Trump to remove him from consideration. He had met with Trump on Thursday to discuss the job, according to a person familiar with the meeting who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Christie’s departure is the latest twist in a search triggered when Trump’s preferred candidate to replace Kelly bowed out.
Trump said Thursday that he was weighing five possibilities. Among the others he considered: his 2016 deputy campaign manager David Bossie, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Trump senior aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had also been the subject of speculation, signaled his lack of interest. A person familiar with the matter said Kushner believed that he could serve the president best in his current role. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. The names of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and even White House communications director Bill Shine and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had also been floated.
The president’s hunt for a new chief reverted to square one last weekend when Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, took himself out of the running and decided that he would instead leave the White House. The announcement surprised even senior staffers who believed that Ayers’ ascension was a done deal.
Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, served for six months before leaving in July 2017.
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Trump picks Mick Mulvaney to be next chief of staff
Trump picks Mick Mulvaney to be next chief of staff
- Christie’s departure is the latest twist in a search triggered when Trump’s preferred candidate to replace Kelly bowed out
Portugal heads for presidential vote, fretting over storms and far-right
LISBON: Portugal ended campaigning on Friday for a presidential election this weekend amidst a battering by storms and fretting about the political whirlwind created by outspoken far-right leader Andre Ventura.
Ventura is almost certain to be beaten by Socialist candidate Antonio José Seguro in Sunday’s election but the far-right score will be watched almost as much as the latest of a series of fierce gales that have swept in off the Atlantic since the start of the year.
Voting has been delayed by a week in some municipalities because of the storms, which have killed at least five people, triggered flooding and caused widespread damage.
A new storm is forecast for Saturday.
But Ventura’s call to postpone the whole vote was rejected.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the storms had caused a “devastating crisis” but that the threats to voting could be overcome. The electoral law only allows for a postponement in individual localities.
- Government attacks -
Seguro and Ventura have drastically rewritten their election scripts and appearances to focus on the towns and villages worst hit by floods, where the storm has torn down buildings and pylons.
Ventura, whose Chega (Enough) party was only created in 2019 but is now the biggest single opposition party in parliament, has attacked the response to the storm given by Montenegro’s center-right minority government.
Seguro has cast off his stance as a unifying candidate and also criticized the government.
The 63-year-old former Socialist party leader said he was “shocked” by the state’s efforts to get the country back on its feet.
Seguro has the advantage in the divisions caused by the rise of Chega in recent years.
An opinion poll published by the Publico daily on Wednesday gave Seguro 67 percent of voter support and Ventura 33 percent.
Seguro led the first round of the presidential election in January with 31 percent of votes and he is now backed by a host of political figures from the far left to the mainstream right.
Montenegro, whose government relies on the goodwill of the Socialists and Chega to survive, has not publicly backed any candidate, however.
His own party’s candidate obtained only 11 percent in the first round and dropped out.
Ventura, 43, took 23 percent of the vote in the first round.
The Portuguese establishment and analysts will be closely watching Ventura’s final score on Sunday to see whether his support is “stagnating” or whether he is “conquerering a new public,” said Joao Cancela, political science professor at Lisbon’s Nova University.
But the weather could have the final word in the debate as the storms and Seguro’s predicted win may lower voter turnout.
Ventura is almost certain to be beaten by Socialist candidate Antonio José Seguro in Sunday’s election but the far-right score will be watched almost as much as the latest of a series of fierce gales that have swept in off the Atlantic since the start of the year.
Voting has been delayed by a week in some municipalities because of the storms, which have killed at least five people, triggered flooding and caused widespread damage.
A new storm is forecast for Saturday.
But Ventura’s call to postpone the whole vote was rejected.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the storms had caused a “devastating crisis” but that the threats to voting could be overcome. The electoral law only allows for a postponement in individual localities.
- Government attacks -
Seguro and Ventura have drastically rewritten their election scripts and appearances to focus on the towns and villages worst hit by floods, where the storm has torn down buildings and pylons.
Ventura, whose Chega (Enough) party was only created in 2019 but is now the biggest single opposition party in parliament, has attacked the response to the storm given by Montenegro’s center-right minority government.
Seguro has cast off his stance as a unifying candidate and also criticized the government.
The 63-year-old former Socialist party leader said he was “shocked” by the state’s efforts to get the country back on its feet.
Seguro has the advantage in the divisions caused by the rise of Chega in recent years.
An opinion poll published by the Publico daily on Wednesday gave Seguro 67 percent of voter support and Ventura 33 percent.
Seguro led the first round of the presidential election in January with 31 percent of votes and he is now backed by a host of political figures from the far left to the mainstream right.
Montenegro, whose government relies on the goodwill of the Socialists and Chega to survive, has not publicly backed any candidate, however.
His own party’s candidate obtained only 11 percent in the first round and dropped out.
Ventura, 43, took 23 percent of the vote in the first round.
The Portuguese establishment and analysts will be closely watching Ventura’s final score on Sunday to see whether his support is “stagnating” or whether he is “conquerering a new public,” said Joao Cancela, political science professor at Lisbon’s Nova University.
But the weather could have the final word in the debate as the storms and Seguro’s predicted win may lower voter turnout.
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