Attorney General Jeff Sessions received personal assurance this week from White House chief of staff John Kelly that his job is safe, despite enduring both public and private scoldings from President Trump over the last several weeks.

Though Trump rewarded Sessions with the top law enforcement post for being the first Republican senator to endorse his 2016 campaign, their relationship has been on the rocks since late last summer. Then, the president told the New York Times he never would have tapped the former Alabama lawmaker for attorney general had he known he was going to recuse himself from overseeing the federal investigation into Russian election interference.