Katie Walsh, a close ally of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, will leave her position as deputy chief of staff to work for an outside group.
Walsh will leave President Donald Trump’s administration altogether, according to reports by ABC — citing two unnamed senior White House officials — and Politico, which cited an unnamed Republican source close to the White House and a senior administration official.
A White House spokeswoman confirmed to TPM that Walsh is leaving her job at the White House and has accepted a position with an outside organization.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that he does not expect any more staff reshuffling to take place.
“With Ms. Walsh’s departure today, are you expecting any more staffing shake-ups in the West Wing?” a reporter asked.
“No,” Spicer replied.
Per Politico’s report, Walsh’s move has support from high up in the administration.
“You’ve got to have somebody from the inside who has the blessing of the man himself,” the unnamed source close to the White House said.
Another unnamed source close to Trump told Politico that Walsh served as the embattled Priebus’ “eyes and ears inside.”
“He basically took away Reince’s political secret service,” that source told Politico.
In the wake of Republicans’ failure to bring a viable bill to the House floor to repeal and replace Obamacare, Priebus — who in the midst of the Republican primaries insisted, “I’m not pouring Baileys in my cereal” — dismissed reports that Trump blamed him for the bill’s implosion.
“I’m not in any trouble,” he said. “I have a great relationship with the President. We talk all the time.”
This post has been updated.
