The Trump administration has quietly scrapped several nominees as the government shutdown sucks up much of the oxygen in Washington.
The White House withdrew EJ Antoni, its pick for commissioner of labor statistics; Jeremy Ellis, the nominee for inspector general at HUD; Brian Quintenz to lead CFTC; and two other picks all on the eve of the shutdown.
The day before that, two other names were pulled — and a few days into the shutdown, the administration quietly withdrew Mark Brnovich as ambassador to Serbia.
The slew of withdrawals seems to be intentionally timed to drop as the shutdown eclipses other business.
“Amid the Democrat-engineered chaos on Capitol Hill, the president’s PPO is playing 4D chess: sharpening its A-team and ensuring everyone nominated and ultimately confirmed is the best representation of the president’s America-first agenda,” one person close to the White House said.
Reached for comment, a White House official said Trump “has assembled an administration filled with the best and brightest America First patriots, and he will continue to do so moving forward.”