WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Republicans on Sunday urged President Donald Trump's new chief of
staff John Kelly to rein in the chaos within the White House on Monday
but said the retired Marine Corps general will be challenged to assert control.
but said the retired Marine Corps general will be challenged to assert control.
In his first
six months in office, Trump has upended White House convention with a loose
decision-making style and an open-door policy to his Oval Office for advisers,
both internal and external. Infighting among his senior staff has become bitter
and public.
"He's
going to have to reduce the drama, reduce both the sniping within and reduce
the leaks, and bring some discipline to the relationships," Karl Rove, a
Republican strategist and former White House adviser to George W. Bush, said on
"Fox News Sunday."
Trump
announced Kelly would replace his embattled chief of staff Reince Priebus at
the end of a particularly chaotic week that saw his first legislative effort -
healthcare reform - fail in Congress.
"He
(Trump) is in a lot of trouble. This week was the most tumultuous week we’ve
seen in a tumultuous presidency," Rove said.
On top of
the healthcare debacle, Trump came under fire for banning transgender people
from the military, and was pilloried for politicizing a speech he made to the
Boy Scouts.
Adding fuel
to the fire, his new communications director Anthony Scaramucci unleashed a
string of profane criticism about Priebus and Trump strategist Steven Bannon to
a New Yorker magazine reporter.
Republicans
welcomed Trump's decision to bring in Kelly, who starts on Monday.
"I
think he will bring some order and discipline to the West Wing," said
Republican Senator Susan Collins and Trump critic on NBC's "Meet the
Press."
The last
week heightened concerns in Trump's party that the distractions and West Wing
dysfunction would derail other legislative priorities, including tax reform and
debt ceiling negotiations.
U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks to journalists after John Kelly was sworn in as
White House Chief of Staff in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington,
U.S., July 31, 2017.
Joshua
Roberts
White House
Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said he thought Priebus had been effective
"but was probably a little bit more laid back” in the way he ran the
office.
"I
think the president wants to go in a different direction, wants a little bit
more discipline, a little more structure in there," said Mulvaney, who
reports to the chief of staff.
It is not
yet clear whether all of Trump's senior staff will answer to Kelly. Some
members, including Scaramucci and senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, report
directly to Trump, a structure which gives them more power.
U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks to journalists after John Kelly was sworn in as
White House Chief of Staff in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington,
U.S., July 31, 2017.
Joshua
Roberts
"I will
do whatever the president and our new chief of staff General Kelly ask me to
do," Conway told Fox News' "Fox News Sunday."
Kelly should
be empowered to be the gatekeeper to the Oval Office, said Mike Huckabee, the
former Republican governor of Arkansas, whose daughter Sarah Sanders is Trump's
spokeswoman.
"That's
what needs to happen, but that's going to be up to the president,"
Huckabee said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
"The
president has a very different style, he's very open, the door is open, he
invites people to just come on it to a meeting," Huckabee said.
To be
effective, Kelly needs to find a way to work within Trump's untraditional
style, said Corey Lewandowski, who was a former campaign manager to Trump, and
remains close to the president.
"The
thing that General Kelly should do is not try to change Donald Trump,"
Lewandowski said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"Anybody
who thinks they're going to change Donald Trump doesn't know Donald
Trump," Lewandowski said.
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