As Washington starts to digest the spectacular failure that was President Donald Trump’s first big agenda item, the inevitable question becomes who will be blamed for essentially assuring that the administration won’t have any big legislative victories in its first 100 days. An obvious candidate? Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Sure, House Speaker Paul Ryan may be the most clear choice, but Trump has at least publicly expressed support for the lawmaker. Inside the White House, some are saying that Trump is looking at his own staff, blaming them for steering him down the wrong path.
CNN reports:
The source close to Trump described a president who felt bamboozled by Ryan and his own staff, duped into thinking that passing health care would be the quick victory he needed to make good on a campaign promise central to his election and push forward on other policy fronts.
Trump is likely to blame Ryan and his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the source said, since he “bought” into Ryan’s plan and helped convince Trump to get on board, according to another senior administration official.
The New York Times also hears a similar message:
Increasingly, that blame has fallen on Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, who coordinated the initial legislative strategy on the health care repeal with Speaker Paul D. Ryan, his close friend and a fellow Wisconsin native, according to three people briefed on the president’s recent discussions.
Priebus would also be the most convenient fall guy, notes T.A. Frank in Vanity Fair:
Trump needs Ryan … and there’s no obvious replacement for him, either. Pence remains important as an emissary, even if his counsel will suffer a drop in value. So, if Trump needs someone to abuse, it’s going to be Reince. Perhaps Priebus will be instructed to bend over when approached by Trump, to allow for easier kicking.
With all this talk, it’s hardly surprising that some are already starting to hear that Trump could be considering getting rid of Priebus. “Source close to @POTUS says he’s being advised to replace @Reince45 & is open to possibility,” wrote Politico’s Tara Palmeri on Twitter.
Some are hearing a different message though. BuzzFeed’s Adrian Carrasquillo, for example, says that a “senior White House official” told him that the “Reince Priebus job is not in jeopardy.”
Others also point out that some Trump loyalists inside the White House have been wanting to get Priebus fired for weeks. (Case in point: Earlier this month, Politico published a story under the headline “Knives are out for Reince.”) So it should hardly be surprising that some are taking the opportunity to push that angle more after the health care debacle. Whether Trump will suddenly be willing to listen to the anti-Priebus faction inside the White House after the health care failure remains to be seen.
