Two separate offices, three phones, different email accounts, a pair of executive assistants — Mick Mulvaney knows how to do two jobs at once.
That multitasking skill could come in useful now that he has been installed acting chief of staff to President Trump while continuing to be director of the Office of Management Budget — with no plans for a new OMB head to be nominated.
For most of his stint as OMB director, Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman, was also running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He only gave that job up earlier this month, when Kathy Kraninger, one of his former aides, was confirmed as director.
Mulvaney used two separate offices for more than a year, working in one in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building — inside the White House complex — for a few days, then walking across 17th Street to the other at 1700 G Street for the rest of the week.
The White House will not confirm whether Mulvaney will be retaining his OMB office, staff, phone lines, email accounts, or anything else. If he has to keep doing some of his OMB job, then one consolation is he won’t have to cross the road — a gym user and avid golfer with a handicap of eight, Mulvaney would face about a four-minute walk from the Oval Office to his OMB suite.
Under any president, however, being the White House chief of staff can be all consuming. Working for President Trump, who is unpredictable and impulsive, keeps no fixed working hours and is highly demanding, leaves even less opportunity for downtime.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has said that Mulvaney would “spend all of his time devoted to his role as the acting chief of staff for the president.”
While Mulvaney wasn’t resigning from OMB, she said, Russell Vought, Mulvaney’s deputy at OMB, will handle OMB’s day-to-day operations. Both the White House and OMB declined to respond to multiple inquiries from the Washington Examiner requesting clarification.
Administration critics noted that the situation, which would be unusual in most administrations, is typical for the Trump administration. “Now that he’s ‘acting’ chief of staff, I have to wonder if he’s fully relinquishing control at OMB,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. “All that being said, this administration and president seem to have a pretty unconventional and chaotic management style, so, while I’m concerned, I’m also not surprised.”
The logistics of running both the White House staff and, nominally, the OMB are a serious consideration. For instance, by serving in both roles, Mulvaney may be subject to congressional subpoenas. Chiefs of staff are typically not subject to congressional subpoenas, but OMB heads can be called to testify.
While serving as OMB director and acting CFPB director, he explained in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee last year, he retained offices at both locations, including separate email accounts, and was careful to keep the work separate. He said that he did not do work for one agency while at the other and received only one paycheck from the government.
“My practice is to do bureau work on the bureau email, and OMB work on the OMB email, and bureau work on the bureau phone,” he said. “And OMB work — I have three phones, and I do my OMB work on my OMB phone.”
He said he had assistants at each job to help him with his duties, but that he never had one do anything for the other agency, adding this situation “causes a great deal of frustration for both of my executive assistants.”
