Trump reassigns White House deputy chief of staff to outside group
WASHINGTON — President Trump reassigned a high-ranking White House official Thursday, sending Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh to advise an outside pro-Trump political group.
The switch comes a week after the administration suffered a defeat on health care in Congress, and less than three months after her appointment as a top aide to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus,
Walsh will now work with the pro-Trump political group America First Policies, as well as the Republican National Committee.
"It was abundantly clear that we didn't have air cover when it came to calls coming into lawmakers," Priebus said. "No one can fix this problem better than Katie."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said no more White House staff changes are planned at this time.
Walsh has been a close ally of Priebus, serving as RNC chief of staff when Priebus was party chairman. Her departure means the loss of a key Priebus ally at the White House as well as one of its highest-ranking women.
White House officials, including Spicer, disputed reports that the Walsh transfer is a staff shake-up designed to undercut Priebus.
America First Policies, Walsh's new organization, was established in January as an outside group to push Trump’s agenda, but has not engaged actively in advancing his policies.
On Wednesday, in a sign of fresh urgency from Trump’s allies, another pro-Trump nonprofit, Making America Great, sprang to life to help Trump — just days after the defeat of the Republican plan to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The group began a $1 million advertising campaign touting Trump’s accomplishments in 10 GOP-leaning states where Democratic senators are up for re-election in 2018.
Making America Great has the financial support of one of Trump’s most influential backers, Rebekah Mercer. She and her billionaire father, Bob Mercer, were among the first deep-pocketed Republicans to back Trump’s White House bid and have close ties to top White House aide Stephen Bannon.
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