The departure of Steve Bannon, the strategist who helped transform President Donald Trump’s campaign into a populist juggernaut, indicates the White House is evolving rapidly under its new chief of staff, John Kelly, The Hill reports.
Trump’s decision to shift Kelly from secretary of Homeland Security to chief of staff was widely seen as a potential turning point for the White House. Allies praised him as a steady hand who could bring discipline to a team roiled by infighting, leaks and palace intrigue — contretemps that often involved Bannon.
Bannon was shown the door on Friday, providing perhaps the strongest signal yet of Kelly’s growing clout. But even though Kelly has wide latitude to enforce discipline, it’s clear that the biggest management challenge for the retired four-star general is the president himself.
In Kelly’s brief three-week tenure, Trump has publicly attacked prominent members of his own party, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, unnerved the world with aggressive rhetoric on North Korea and issued widely criticized and equivocal statements on white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va.
In a telling moment that hinted at Kelly’s reported frustration with his boss, he stood with his eyes to the floor during the president’s bellicose press conference on Charlottesville on Tuesday, visibly grimacing as Trump railed about violence “on both sides”.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to get the West Wing in order or not,” Representative Tom Rooney, an ally of Kelly’s, told The Hill in an interview conducted shortly before the announcement of Bannon’s departure. Rooney noted he has not spoken to Kelly since he became chief of staff.
White House officials say they’re fully behind with Kelly and appreciate how he has imposed order without micromanaging into their daily responsibilities and policy portfolios.
Staff meetings have been reduced from five times a week under his predecessor, Reince Priebus, to three times a week. The meetings are to-the-point affairs that are over in 20 minutes, officials say.
On Capitol Hill, Kelly is seen as keeping a light touch on policy strategy for what is expected to be a bruising September for Republicans, with deadlines looming to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
Kelly had one other notable success before the resignation of Bannon: He was also behind the firing of the controversial former communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Just a few hours after becoming chief of staff, Kelly ousted “the Mooch”, ending a tumultuous stretch for the former hedge fund manager that lasted just 10 days.
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