President Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly is not being considered to lead the Veterans Affairs agency, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday.
An anonymous official close to the ongoing search for a new VA secretary told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that “discussions among the senior staff and the president directly about the possibility of Gen. Kelly going [to the agency]” had taken place.
“No, [Kelly] is not being considered as the VA secretary,” Sanders told reporters. “Both the president and his chief of staff are very happy with the position he currently holds.”
Trump’s previous pick for the position, White House physician Ronny Jackson, withdrew his nomination for the position last week amid allegations of misconduct during his tenure in previous administrations.
Kelly came under fire on Monday over a report that he repeatedly disparaged Trump in meetings with other administration officials, including once calling the president an “idiot” over his failure to understand the Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals program.
The president’s top aide blasted the report, originally published by NBC and later confirmed by other outlets, as “total BS.”
“I spend more time with the president than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship,” Kelly said in a statement Monday evening.
