President Donald Trump wants "more discipline" in the West Wing, and chose retired four-star Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly to impose it as new White House chief of staff, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday.
In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Mulvaney said Reince Priebus, who resigned last week, "was probably more laid back and independent in the way he ran the office."
"I think the president wants to go a different direction, wants more discipline, little more structure in there," he said. "He enjoys working with generals. We have several in the administration doing extraordinary jobs. The president likes that."
Mulvaney also explained the president's cryptic tweet warning of a possibility there'd be no "bailouts for Congress" in the wake of its failure to repeal and replace Obamacare so far.
"What he's saying is, look, if Obamacare is hurting people, and it is, then why shouldn't it hurt insurance companies and, more importantly perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress," he said, adding: "There is a certain benefit that members of Congress get as part of an [Office of Personnel and Management] decision a couple of years ago."
Mulvaney said the benefit determined how much the government, Congress' employer, chips in to the healthcare coverage Congress members get through the Obamacare exchanges.
"That's the rule that the president was talking about in his tweet yesterday. "
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