Nick Ayers Pulls A Forrest Gump On Trump, Mnuchin Now In Running To Replace John Kelly

On Saturday, after Donald Trump made John Kelly’s exit as Chief of Staff official, we said  “he’ll doubtlessly be replaced by Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence’s Chief of Staff.”

We were wrong. Not only will Nick not be Trump’s Chief of Staff, he’s leaving the White House altogether. That’s according to the recognized authority on all things Nick Ayers: Nick Ayers…

Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. ?? #Georgia

— Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018

Nick is going to join a PAC and try to say that counts as “advancing the cause”, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nick is trying to distance himself from the dumpster fire at 1600 Penn. before it’s too late. Here’s the Daily Beast:

Ayers’ departure from government would mark a return to a private political consulting career that earned him huge paychecks between stints at GOP political outfits including the Republican National Committee and the Republican Governors Association and his work with Pence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Personal financial disclosure documents filed with federal ethics officials showed that Ayers owned a stake in the firm C5 Creative Consulting worth between $5 million and $25 million. He also reported an ownership interest of between $1 million and $5 million in an investment firm called Holmsted LLC.

So who will replace Kelly? Well, that’s an open question, but among those being considered is – and we kid you not – Steve Mnuchin.

“The president is considering current Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus”, Reuters reports, citing “one source”.

Another source told AP that Mick Mulvaney is also in the running, which is exceedingly amusing because Mick already has at least two jobs: OMB Director and dismantler head of the CFPB, although he’ll be relieved of the latter duties now that Kathy Kraninger has been confirmed as the new person in charge of destroying Elizabeth Warren’s efforts to protect consumers from predators. If you don’t know who Kathy is, don’t feel bad, because literally nobody had ever heard of her prior to her confirmation.

Anyway, Trump was apparently looking for a two-year commitment from Ayers and Nick wasn’t willing to promise that, presumably because he’s not interested in going to prison if things get really messy in the West Wing. So now, we all get to laugh at the prospect of Steve Mnuchin being yanked out of Treasury and installed as Chief of Staff. God only knows who would be Treasury Secretary in that scenario.

Of course Trump is already furious at Steve, who the President blames for his (Trump’s) decision to appoint Jerome Powell, who he (Trump again) faults with crashing the stock market.

Yes sir, just another day in the “well-oiled machine”!

Oh, and Twitter is (highly) amused.

pic.twitter.com/ElnFtKiwOU

— ?? Dr. Jeffery ? Hayden ?? ???? (@DrJefferyHayden) December 9, 2018

And they're off….. pic.twitter.com/pH3wiDweKx

— Island Girl – 100% Pro-Choice, Vote Blue (@bluepolitics_) December 9, 2018

https://twitter.com/RNBSNJD/status/1071884925521907713

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