A White House staff that once was criticized as top-heavy has now transformed into being astonishingly light, as mass vacancies created over the summer likely will not be filled, Politico reported.
Chief among them is Steve Bannon, since President Donald Trump serves as his chief strategist, sources told Politico.
Neither has Anthony Scaramucci been replaced, nor deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh who departed in March. Boris Epshteyn, Michael Short and Andrew Hemming also have not been replaced.
Current staffers are now accustomed to taking on more responsibility, Politico reported.
Part of the reason is new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who's taking a methodical approach to understanding current roles before adding new ones.
"General Kelly has come in and done a look-see on what everyone’s been working on for the first six or seven months here," a White House aide told Politico. "Some people were ready, and some people were not."
But the overall void is causing a problem for Republican lawmakers, who don't know who to call at the White House anymore to talk agenda; former chief of staff Reince Priebus and Bannon had been their go-to guys.
And with multiple Russia investigations and Trump generating a lot of heat aimed at himself and the White House, there aren't a lot of candidates knocking on the door wanting to join, Politico reported.
The lean staff also mirrors Trump's administration overall, noted Tuesday by conservative voice Laura Ingraham, who decried the alarming number of vacancies throughout government; 366 positions currently have no nominees.
Trump tweeted that many of them will go unfilled in order to reduce the size of government.