Katie Walsh, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, is departing the White House, but officials say there are no more planned exits on the immediate horizon.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a Thursday news briefing that Walsh is the only senior official currently slated to leave the administration.
Walsh will join the pro-Trump group America First Policies to help bolster the president’s agenda from outside the White House, administration officials told The Associated Press. The group, started by Trump’s 2016 campaign aides has had issues getting its operation off the ground and was notably absent during the public-relations push for the GOP’s plan to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare.
Speaking with reporters, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Thursday the White House had no “air cover” from the group, and said “no one can fix this problem better than Katie Walsh.”
Her departure comes after a bumpy couple of months for the administration which culminated in the House GOP’s failure last week to advance a key campaign promise on health care.
Walsh is a connected Republican political operative from her time at the Republican National Committee, with deep ties to Priebus, who helmed the RNC for the past 6 years.
