Chief of Staff John Kelly's influence in the White House became even more apparent with the departure of chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday, but the retired four-star general is likely to find that President Donald Trump himself will prove to be his biggest challenge.
Kelly is widely seen around Washington as the steady hand that could bring the White House's infighting under control, reports The Hill, and Bannon, who has returned to Breitbart News, was often at the center of the battles.
However, Bannon's ouster may not solve the problems dogging the Trump White House, as Kelly, as chief of staff, is in charge of staff matters but not the president himself.
"I don't know if he's going to be able to get the West Wing in order or not," Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), a Kelly ally, told The Hill before Bannon's departure was announced. Rooney said, though, he has not spoken to Kelly since he became chief of staff three weeks ago.
Kelly's frustration was on clear display this past week, when he was shown grimacing during Trump's press conference on Tuesday while the president spoke of violence on "both sides" of the Charlottesville protests.
In addition, under Kelly's tenure, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traded barbs and threats, and the president launched scathing attacks on prominent Republicans, especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Kelly, meanwhile, is already bringing order and structure to the White House. Under former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, staff meetings were held five times a week, but now Kelly holds just three. They are also short and to the point, usually over in 20 minutes, according to White House officials.
Kelly was also behind firing communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired after he gave a profanity-laced interview attacking many members of the Trump administration.
Bannon had also been a disruptive presence in the White House, fighting with people such as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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