that have made him a prominent face of the Trump administration.
A senior
administration official and three people familiar with the potential changes
said Monday that Spicer has discussed taking a more senior communications role
at the White House. The three people said he has reached out to possible
successors at the podium and as communications director. The people spoke on
condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations before a
final decision is made.
"We
have sought input from many people as we look to expand our communications
operation. As he did in the beginning, Sean Spicer is managing both the
communications and press office," said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a deputy
White House press secretary. She declined further comment on the potential
changes.
Discussions
about overhauling the White House communications office have been ongoing for
several weeks, according to the senior administration official. Spicer's
preference is to step away from the press briefings entirely, though other
configurations have also been discussed.
It's unclear
how quickly a decision will be made, and, as with all things involving
President Donald Trump, the situation could change. Major staffing shake-ups
have been a constant subject of conversation at the White House, but have
failed to materialize in recent weeks, aside from the departure of
communications director Mike Dubke in early June.
The White
House has consulted an array of Republicans and Trump allies, including Laura
Ingraham, the conservative radio host and political commentator. However,
Ingraham is not expected to take the press secretary position.
David
Martosko, the U.S. political editor of London's Daily Mail, who covered the
president's campaign, has also interviewed for senior communications jobs,
according to a person familiar with the interviews who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.
The possible
changes for Spicer were first reported by Bloomberg News and Politico.
Spicer's
public role has already diminished in recent weeks.
The White
House has increasingly tapped Cabinet officials and other White House advisers
to address reporters on camera and moved to take some of the daily briefings
off cable television to keep the focus on Trump, who makes a habit of watching
the televised performances.
Spicer spoke
Monday from the podium at an off-camera gaggle that barred broadcast outlets
from using the audio of the question-and-answer session. Asked about the
changes, Spicer said Trump had spoken before cameras during an Oval Office
meeting with the president of Panama and would later make remarks in front of
the media at an event with technology leaders.
"There
are days that I'll decide that the president's voice should be the one that
speaks and iterate his priorities," Spicer said.
The White
House has generally only used that excuse on days that the president has held a
press conference or delivered a major speech.
Spicer's
briefings have been must-see TV during the start of the Trump era, beginning
with his fiery, inaccurate claim that journalists wrongly portrayed the size of
Trump's inauguration audience. He has been the subject of recurring skits by
comic Melissa McCarthy on "Saturday Night Live" and his afternoon
briefings have garnered strong ratings.
In April the
former Republican National Committee strategist apologized for making an
"inappropriate and insensitive" statement comparing Adolf Hitler to
Syrian President Bashar Assad by suggesting Hitler "didn't even sink to
using chemical weapons." His comments ignored Hitler's use of gas chambers
to kill Jews.
Trump
threatened in May to shut down daily press briefings and told Fox News Channel
at the time that Spicer was "doing a good job, but he gets beat up."
The
president has long seen himself as his most effective spokesman, and has
faulted his communications team for much of the early turbulence at the White
House as well as the backlash from the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
__
AP White
House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.
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