This week just keeps getting worse for Mick Mulvaney.
The latest hit arrived Wednesday morning when New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman gave an interview to CNN and said that while Mulvaney, acting chief of staff for President Donald Trump, technically occupies the role, the real White House puppet master since his arrival is none other than Jared Kushner.
“Mulvaney is seen internally as not a particularly strong chief of staff, and that’s because he is not providing much of a buffer between the staff and the president,” Haberman said. “Jared Kushner has been rising internally. We’ve seen him in negotiations on the hill even though he really doesn’t have a ton of relationships beyond his work on criminal justice reform. He is feeling ascendant.”
After John Kelly was shown the door in December following numerous reported clashes with Kushner and Ivanka Trump—and after Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers passed on the gig—Mulvaney was basically the only man left in DC stupid enough to accept the position. To say things have been rough for Mulvaney in his first couple weeks on the job would be a kind understatement. Before Wednesday’s report that he’s little more than the next head in line for the chopping block, Trump reportedly excoriated Mulvaney during a Jan. 4 meeting with Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer after he proposed the two sides meet in the middle. This reportedly prompted Trump to cut Mulvaney off in front of the crowd and inform him that, “You’re fucking it all up, Mick.”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of hope Mulvaney gets his shit together, because the only thing more terrifying than Trump having a competent set of people around him to help fulfill his batshit dreams of xenophobia is Jared “feeling ascendant.”