Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to clean house Saturday even as Russia bombarded the nation, carrying out 75 airstrikes in just 24 hours. Zelensky ousted two key staffers — his top aide, Serhiy Shefir, along with the nation’s Commissioner for Soldiers’ Rights, Alyona Verbytska, along with four other government workers. No reasons were offered for their expulsions, The Kyiv Independent reported. Pic of Z Pic of war action Pic of art students clearing rubble The latest personnel changes come just a day after Zelensky dismissed Andrii Smirnov and Oleksii Dniprov as the deputy heads of his office and are the...

The Republican National Committee's chief of staff is set to resign from his position later this month, Politico reported. Mike Reed has been the RNC's chief of staff since Jan. 2022, but in an email obtained by Politico, he said he's stepping down to focus on his “growing family [that] needs and deserves my attention.” Sources close to Reed say he's accepted a job with Cornerstone, a government relations and public affairs firm. “I know the timing of this news comes as many rumors in the press swirl and we prepare to merge with the presumptive nominee. I assure you,...

Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has fired roughly a dozen staffers — and more are expected in the coming weeks as he shakes up his big-money political operations after less than two months on the campaign trail. Those who were let go were described to NBC News by a source familiar as mid-level staffers across several departments whose departures were related to cutting costs. The exits come after the departures of David Abrams and Tucker Obenshain, veterans of DeSantis’ political orbit, which were first reported by Politico. DeSantis has $12 million in the bank, but of that $3 million can be...

Ron DeSantis has replaced his campaign manager Generra Peck, in what is the third major reshuffling of his operations, a campaign spokesperson and a person familiar with the move confirmed to POLITICO. Peck will be shifted to a role of chief strategist as part of the new order. Taking her place atop the campaign will be James Uthmeier, who has served as chief of staff in DeSantis’ governor’s office.

Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has fired roughly a dozen staffers — and more are expected in the coming weeks as he shakes up his big-money political operations after less than two months on the campaign trail. Sources involved with the DeSantis campaign say there is an internal assessment among some that they hired too many staffers too early, and despite bringing in $20 million during its first six weeks, it was becoming clear their costs needed to be brought down. Some in DeSantis’ political orbit are laying the early blame at the feet of campaign manager Generra Peck, who also...

A new class of voter is waiting to shake up our politics. In 2016, we learned about the crucial importance of “Obama-Trump” voters. Some estimates held that up to 13 percent of Trump’s voters in 2016 had voted for Obama in a previous election. This reflects the moodiness of swing voters, the changing composition of the two parties, and the continuities between the two very different men. Notably, Obama and Trump both ran their campaigns as critics of NAFTA. Hillary Clinton lost about one out of every four Obama voters who were white men with only high-school education. Some analysts...

The White House is reportedly considering a major shake-up after the midterm elections in November, which are expected to not go well for the Democrats. The report suggests that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese are among those likely to get the boot in what Axios describes as a “broad reorganization of President Biden’s economic team.”p>This appears to be related to a broader shake-up planned by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who, it was reported last week, is having former administration officials Jeff Zients and Natalie Quillian compile lists of candidates for Cabinet...

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) -2.8% post-market following a Bloomberg report that three senior executives in its missiles division - the CFO, VP of contracts and general counsel - have left the company, citing an internal email. Raytheon faces a U.S. Department of Justice probe into cost reporting and other financial issues involving defense contracts at the missiles division dating back several years, but the Bloomberg report does not specifically say that the departures are related. Raytheon said on its Q4 earnings conference call last month that it had made progress in its internal investigation into the matter, but that it had...

John Dowd, a personal attorney to President Trump, resigned his post Thursday amid a shake-up in the president’s legal team as Trump has sought more firepower to deal with the special counsel’s Russia investigation. The resignation came Thursday, according to three people familiar with the decision. Dowd declined to comment. Dowd’s departure was a largely mutual decision made after the president lost confidence in his ability to handle special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and Dowd became frustrated with Trump’s recent efforts to bring on new attorneys, they said. In recent weeks, Dowd clashed with the president, including an...

John Dowd, President Trump’s lead lawyer handling the special counsel probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, has stepped down, according to reports on Thursday. Dowd had considered stepping down in the past over his inability to control Trump’s outbursts, The New York Times reported. Rumors ran rampant this week that a legal team shake-up was in the works. Trump added former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, a regular Fox News guest, to his team earlier in the week.

The day before the White House announced the departure of its communications director, President Donald Trump’s campaign spokeswoman said a shake-up is necessary. “I think there should be a shake-up at the White House starting at the very top,” Katrina Pierson said Monday on Fox News. Pierson took to Twitter on Tuesday to tweet a clip of her Fox News appearance with a not-so-subtle suggestion: “I have an idea. How about we try an actual TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.” https://twitter.com/KatrinaPierson/status/869526271650390016

New round of chaos, or no big deal? For a little over a week, we’ve been hearing of an impending shake-up in the Trump White House. Allegedly, the President is furious about leaks, incompetence, the general perception (or reality) that his agenda seems to have stalled if not completely derailed. Are things that dire? Probably not. However, we’d be lying if we tried to pretend that President Trump has been enjoying a smooth month. To put it mildly, things have been a bit “clunky.” So, yes, it’s likely that his administration is headed for some personnel changes.

After a tumultuous first 75 days in office, there are reports that President Donald Trump is looking at a major shakeup of his inner circle. Mike Allen, reporting at Axios, reported that both Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon may be out. Priebus as chief of staff has been a mistake from the beginning. Any schadenfreude conservatives may feel over this development should be tempered by thoughts of what may come next. The four names reported by Allen are all creatures of the swamp Trump professes to want to drain. With the failure to repeal Obamacare marring the start of Trump’s...

After GOP establishment forces inside President Donald Trump’s White House forced out National Security Adviser retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, sources close to the president confirm to Breitbart News there is serious doubt as to whether this early administration shake-up will also see the exit of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus. Specifically, multiple sources close to President Trump with internal knowledge of White House operations told Breitbart News on Monday night that the buck stops with Priebus when it comes to the botched rollout of the executive order temporarily banning most travel to the United States from...

Hillary Clinton is weighing a staff shakeup after Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, according to Politico. Both Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are unhappy with the direction of the campaign's messaging and digital operations and had been considering changing staff and strategy after the first four voting states. But a source told Politico that the Clintons now want to consider such changes earlier. Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders by a razor-thin margin in last week's Iowa caucuses, but the latest polls show her trailing Sanders by double digits in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary Tuesday. "The Clintons...

As the Daily Caller reports, the continually sagging ratings at MSNBC, particularly in the afternoon and evening, have Phil Griffin looking at some changes… potentially big ones. Some of the most disappointing numbers have come from their latest additions and shifts in the evening lineup. But who is on the chopping block? Considering a number of their shows are unwatchable — here’s looking at you Chris Hayes and Joy Reid — it’s painfully obvious that MSNBC’s lineup is in need of a serious makeover.According to TheWrap, Hayes’ crappy ratings are even bringing down those of his TV mentor, Rachel...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday. Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate. Rodriguez is the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command and has served in a “variety of key leadership roles on the battlefield,” Panetta said. He’s “a proven leader” who oversaw coalition and Afghan forces during the surge in Afghanistan, and “was the key architect of the...

NBC's Chuck Todd reports: "I'm hearing chatter that there's maybe some people from the last campaign that's maybe going to get a little more involved," said Todd.

Lawmakers reach agreement on measure after 33-hour session Madison - Ending a grueling session that stretched almost 33 hours, Assembly lawmakers passed on a voice vote a bill to overhaul the board of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, sending the measure to Gov. Scott Walker. It put a gloss of bipartisanship over a session that saw the most conflict in the Legislature in recent memory. Democrats had made a de facto filibuster through the night to block the bill, calling the changes an unneeded power grab. But the Republican majority in the Assembly refused to set the bill aside, saying...