WASHINGTON: The White House is pushing back against talk of a staffing purge, insisting that reports of tumult and imminent departures are overblown.

Chief of staff John Kelly, himself the subject of rumours that his job may be in jeopardy, has assured some staffers that they’re safe, at least for now.

The message he conveyed was an attempt at “reassuring them that there were no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people shouldn’t be concerned,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday.

But days after President Donald Trump’s secretary of state was ousted, many close to Trump think more upheaval is coming soon.

Trump has been moving toward replacing national security adviser H.R. McMaster but has not settled on exact timing or a successor, according to four people with knowledge of White House deliberations. Kelly has also worn on the president, Trump confidants said. And Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, under fire for ethics violations, appears to be grasping to keep his job.

Sanders gave multiple reassurances about McMaster first in a tweet Thursday and then from the briefing room podium the next day. She said Trump had indicated that no changes were coming.

McMaster said Sanders had “set it straight” but struck a slightly different tone.

“Everybody has got to leave the White House at some point,” he told a reporter from ABC News outside the West Wing. “I’m doing my job.” But the air of stability the White House tried to project felt more like a pause than a permanent shift.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2018