During weeks of strained debate between parties while the government was shut down for a month earlier this year, tensions were high — and one Republican senator accused acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney of continuously derailing negotiations, The New York Times reported.
In an article about Mulvaney’s management style — letting President Trump be Trump — the Times reported that Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) “complained bitterly” about Mulvaney’s habit of “undoing weeks of bipartisan work with a quick comment to Mr. Trump in the Oval Office,” in the Times’ words. Shelby reportedly told Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that Mulvaney was the “most dangerous man” in Washington, three people familiar with the conversation told the Times.
Shelby has kept his feelings about Mulvaney to himself for the most part, but when asked by a reporter about the “chief of staff” last week, Shelby corrected him: “You mean acting chief of staff?”
