The White House is currently deciding whether or not to bring back the daily press briefings now that Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is stepping down at the end of the month, according to a Friday New York Times report.
Unnamed officials told the Times that staffers like acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney are pushing for the press briefings to be restored, believing that they’re a good way to shape the White House’s message. Additionally, they argue that it could be a tool to fight Trump’s Democratic challengers ahead of the 2020 election.
Other staffers reportedly say that it would be better for Trump to be his own messenger via Twitter.
In the meantime, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley will fill in for Sanders until Trump finds a replacement. According to the Times, the President wants the next press secretary to be a woman.
The current spokeswoman for First Lady Melania Trump, Stephanie Grisham, is under consideration. Other possible candidates include State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus and Heather Nauert, who withdrew her name from consideration to be Trump’s U.N. ambassador in February.
