Trump hires Republican insider, conservative firebrand for White House
President-elect Donald Trump on November 13 picked Reince Priebus, a Washington insider who heads the Republican National Committee, as White House chief of staff, signaling a willingness to work with Congress to advance his agenda when he takes office in January.
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But while giving the influential post to the low-key Priebus, Trump handed another senior White House job to rabble-rousing conservative media figure Stephen Bannon, his campaign chairman who helped engineer his surprise victory on November 8 over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Priebus is a friend of US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, who distanced himself from Trump during the campaign but embodies the Republican establishment in Washington and will play a critical role in shepherding Trump's agenda in Congress. Both Priebus and Ryan are from Wisconsin.
But Bannon, former head of the right-wing Breitbart News website, has been fiercely critical of Ryan.
Trump's statement announcing the appointments said Bannon and Priebus would be "working as equal partners to transform the federal government," with Bannon serving as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president.
The White House chief of staff serves as a gatekeeper and agenda-setter for the president, but Trump's statement mentioned Bannon's job first.
"I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country," Trump said in a statement. "Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House."
