Jennifer Arangio, Top NSC Official, Forced Out Of White House After Reportedly Standing Up For Refugees
Jennifer Arangio, a senior national security official, was sacked for standing up for refugees, according to Foreign Policy. The lawyer and former Capitol Hill employee was fired from her senior director position and then escorted out on Thursday, July 12.
She reportedly clashed with White House aide Stephen Miller and other human rights and immigration hardliners. Arangio and Miller also skirmished over the “U.S. participation in international negotiations on a global migration compact, insisting that the United States could better shape international policies on migration from inside the tent.” Ultimately, Miller won the battle but remained closed to Arangio, even refusing to take a meeting with her when she wanted his endorsement for a State Department position. She has now lost her job.
NYMag.com reports that Bolton seems to have been targeting specific staffers in his so-called purge. They have included people who worked under previous presidential administrations, those who were known to be close to the previous NSC head McMaster and staff who he thought could be leaking information. However, Arangio does not fit any of those profiles as she was well-known as a fierce protector of Trump.
“She is a true believer in this president, and she took her role seriously to ensure he received the most complete and accurate information to make a decision.”
Jennifer Arangio had clashed with @realDonaldTrump's most hard-line advisors over human rights and refugee issues.https://t.co/YFFXlt4NF6
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) July 14, 2018
It is believed that her penchant for the truth may have cost her her position as she tried to “correct misleading information about refugees and migrants provided to the president by Miller and the DPC.”
Arangio and Miller did not see eye-to-eye on the number of refugees who should be allowed access into the United States.
“Arangio had defended the State Department’s embattled refugee bureau amid campaigns by other top Trump aides to dismantle or defund it.”
She is the third senior official to vacate her position in a matter of days. The other to NSC staffers both left the Middle East Section. According to Politico, one of the staffers Joel Rayburn has been offered a top position in the State Department still working with Middle East matters. There is no word on what will happen to Michael Bell.
However, there is no official statement as to the departures of the officials. Arangio and Rayburn have not commented on their departure status, while Bell could not be reached. An NSC spokesman informed the press of their policy.
“We don’t comment on personnel.”
Arangio was an NSC senior director for international organizations and alliances. She also worked as the national director of women’s engagement for Trump’s presidential campaign. She was then appointed to the NSC in January 2017, where she was held in high regard by her fellow co-workers.
