In the aftermath of the government shutdown, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is being credited with being the immigration policy enforcer in the showdown with Democrats, The Hill reported.
When President Donald Trump put Kelly in charge of guiding his immigration policies through Congress ahead of the midterms, he entrusted the retired Marine Corps general with holding firm on promises made during his presidential campaign.
Kelly did just that; Senate Democrats blinked first in the shutdown showdown.
"He's a pretty disciplined gatekeeper," California Democrat Rep. Mark Takano told the Hill. "I would say he had a big hand, and I believe that Kelly's leaning fully to the right, and is the enforcer on this issue."
It was Kelly who helped advise against the bipartisan Graham-Durbin proposal; it was Kelly who sat in on the 11th-hour sitdown last week between the president and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ahead of the deadline; and it was Kelly who called Schumer to say no deal, effectively ending negotiations.
Schumer subsequently said talking with the White House was akin to "negotiating with Jell-O," and Sen. Lindsey Graham said Trump was "let down by his staff" over the immigration negotiations, both knocks at Kelly.
All of which means Kelly did his job protecting immigration policy for the president.
However, it wasn't without bumps in the road.
Kelly two weeks ago told Hispanic Democrats that Trump's campaign positions were "uninformed" and that he had "evolved" on immigration, prompting a Twitter rebuke from his boss the next morning.
That stirred rumors and reports that Kelly may have had his Steve Bannon moment and was on his way out, a notion Trump shot down Wednesday.
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