As one of his first staff announcements, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff.
It’s a serious pick for a man who evidently aims to be a serious President.
Priebus did an excellent job at the RNC, helping Republicans grab and maintain House and Senate majorities in 2014 and 2016. He is widely credited with being the diving force behind a huge technology upgrade to RNC efforts, including increased get-out-the-vote efforts for those two elections.
Another huge plus is that, despite close ties to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (Priebus was previously head of the Wisconsin Republican Party before being elected RNC head), and unlike DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, he didn’t put his thumb on the scale for any of the 2016 GOP Presidential contenders. When Trump clenched the nomination, Priebus put the organizational weight of the RNC behind Trump despite vociferous arguments from the #NeverTrump faction to cut him lose and reallocate the money to House and Senate races. Priebus’ support, and Trump’s greater focus during the last month of the race, is why we have President-Elect Trump rather than President-Elect Clinton.
My guess is that Priebus will be a great Chief of Staff, and his position there should reassure conservatives worried that Trump will go too far off the reservation. The saying is that “personnel is policy,” and Priebus will be in the ideal situation to make sure policy doesn’t fall pray to Trump’s whims.
The only downside is the necessity of the RNC to find a capable replacement for Priebus. That may prove a difficult task.