Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie withdrew his name from consideration for the White House chief of staff position today.
“It’s an honor to have the president consider me as he looks to choose a new White House chief of staff,” Christie said in a statement. “However, I’ve told the president that now is not the right time for me or my family to undertake this serious assignment. As a result, I have asked him to no longer keep me in any of his considerations for this post.
Yesterday, Trump told reporters he had narrowed down his choices for chief of staff to five candidates.
“We are interviewing people now for chief of staff,” Trump said, calling those considered for the position “mostly well-known” and “terrific people.”
President Trump says his chief of staff short list is down to "five people, really good ones, terrific people, mostly well-known" https://t.co/AfEIFrfeM5 pic.twitter.com/agKPh6HkDM
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 13, 2018
Current White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will be leaving the White House at the end of the year and those tapped to possibly replace him include Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and budget director Mick Mulvaney.
It was originally reported that Trump was considering Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers for the job, however, Ayers announced over the weekend that he was leaving the White House.
