While every other considered candidate to replace John Kelly as Trump’s chief of staff politely declined as the Trump administration falls to pieces due to the ongoing legal exposure of the president in numerous criminal investigations, Trump did finally find someone willing to take on the job.
Note Trump’s use of the term “acting chief of staff,” which means that Mulvaney is most likely not moving into a permanent position, but a temporary one while Trump continues the hunt for someone willing to work with him.
KTLA 5 reports that:
‘Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, will become the acting White House chief of staff replacing John Kelly, President Donald Trump announced on Friday. Trump appointed Mulvaney to the position in an acting role about a week after Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers declined Trump’s offer to become chief of staff, refusing to agree to a two-year time commitment the President had requested.’
Chris Christie said it's not the right time to "undertake this serious assignment" and asked to be removed from consideration for the open chief of staff position in the Trump White House. https://t.co/rfycdcXEDv
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) December 14, 2018
The announcement came following a string of offers that were refused, including from Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Nick Ayers and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Ayers requested that the position be as acting chief of staff should he accept the job but Trump refused. Now, it seems he’s relented after realizing that no one else wants to take on any kind of permanent position in his White House administration.
Nick Ayers also wanted to be named acting chief of staff. He wanted to take the job on an interim basis with a set departure date in a few months. But Trump protested. He was vehemently against having an acting chief of staff. But guess what? We now have an acting chief of staff.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 14, 2018
Most likely, Mulvaney won’t last long, just as his predecessors, Reince Priebus and John Kelly, exited after a very short time in the administration following disagreements and chaos as part of the Trump team.