Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus may be on the way out as part of a rumored White House shakeup

As turmoil continues to roil the Trump administration, two of its biggest players may soon be out of a job

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published April 7, 2017 12:35PM (EDT)

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump's decision to kick Steve Bannon off the National Security Council may be just the beginning.

The president may be planning to not only boot Bannon from his job as chief strategist, but may also replace chief of staff Reince Priebus, according to a report from Axios. Although Axios received this tip from a number of aides and advisers, one of them cautioned that "it's very unclear the president's willing to pull that trigger."

While there aren't any indications about who Trump would choose as his new chief strategist, a number of high-profile Republicanshave been reported to be under consideration for chief of staff. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is perhaps the most prominent name on that list, followed by the director of the National Economic Council (and former Goldman Sachs banker) Gary Cohn. The list is rounded out by David Urban, who helped Trump win Pennsylvania during the 2016 presidential election, and Wayne Berman, who was assistant secretary of commerce under President George H. W. Bush and has extensive experience working on presidential campaigns.

If Trump kicks out Priebus and Bannon, this will merely confirm that the ongoing internal clash between Trump loyalists and more establishment thinkers has reached a critical mass. While this has even trickled down to individual Cabinet departments, it is perhaps best exemplified in the ongoing feud between Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser. Bannon has told Kushner to his face that he believes Kushner is still a Democrat, while a senior White House official told The Atlantic that Kushner is a "liberal Democrat." In general the conflict boils down to ideology: Bannon and his supporters in the White House want to openly push for the deregulatory and anti-establishment ideology that they argue got Trump elected, while Kushner and his supporters advocate a more pragmatic approach to governing.

By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

David Urban Donald Trump Gary Cohn Kevin Mccarthy Reince Priebus Steve Bannon Wayne Berman