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VP-Elect Mike Pence Replaces Chris Christie As Head Of Transition Team

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 08:21 PST, Nov 11, 2016

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is taking over the leadership of the Donald Trump presidential transition team from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The change might be the result of fallout from the Bridgegate scandal. Two of Christie’s aides were recently convicted on Bridgegate-related charges.

If the Apprentice is any indication, perhaps Christie was called to the boardroom where he was told, “You’re fired.”

As you may recall, Trump also changed campaign managers three times on his way to the November 8 election.

“The job is always crucial, but especially so for the first modern president ever elected without experience in either government or the military. In addition to staffing the White House, Cabinet agencies, embassies and other key government posts, the transition team needs to make sure Trump is briefed and prepared to take responsibility for taking over the government and getting his policy initiatives in place,” the Los Angeles Times explained about the chair of the transition team.

The former New York real estate mogul has to quickly fill 15 Cabinet positions as well as thousands of key administrative jobs in the Executive Branch.

“The decision marks Trump’s biggest personnel move since being elected president. Speculation is widespread over whom he will consider for the highest-profile Cabinet and White House positions in his administration, but the first order of business was sorting out the team leading those discussions,” Fox News observed about Mike Pence running the transition team instead of Chris Christie.

Christie will remain as vice chair of the transition team, along with Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (who might be a contender for Attorney General), retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who will likely receive a high-level, national-security-related appointment, and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, both of whom are also expected to join the administration in some capacity.

Unlike first-time candidate Trump, Pence has solid experience in government as Indiana’s governor, as well as a long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives before that, which appears to make this a logical move. Moreover, it’s likely that Pence would not have accepted the offer to join the GOP ticket unless he received some assurances of substantive, rather than just ceremonial, duties in the Trump administration.

“In another blow to Christie, one of his allies, Rich Bagger, was replaced as transition director by Rick Dearborn, who works as Sessions’ chief of staff.” the New York Post reported.

“Mr. Dearborn’s staff includes Kellyanne Conway, the campaign manager who is now senior adviser to the transition; David Bossie as deputy executive director; Stephen Miller as national policy director; Jason Miller as communications director; Hope Hicks as national press secretary; Dan Scavino as director of social media; Don McGahn will serve as general counsel; and Katie Walsh as a senior adviser,” the Wall Street Journaldetailed.

The transition team executive committee includes, among others, Trump’s three adult children and his son in law, several elected officials, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, RNC Chair Reince Priebus, and campaign CEO Stephen Bannon.

In a statement about the reshuffling of responsibilities, President-elect Trump has this to say.

“Together this outstanding group of advisors, led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, will build on the initial work done under the leadership of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to help prepare a transformative government ready to lead from day one. The mission of our team will be clear: put together the most highly qualified group of successful leaders who will be able to implement our change agenda in Washington…”

Pence added his comment about his additional role in the Trump administration, saying, “President-elect Trump will bring about fundamental change in Washington, and these are the right people to make that happen. This team of experienced leaders will form the building blocks of our Presidential Transition Team staff leadership roster, and will work with elected officials and tireless volunteers to prepare our government for the transfer of power on January 20th.”

[Featured Image by Darron Cummings/AP Images]

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