The Note: The White House staff shakeup begins

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May 30, 2017

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The White House staff shakeup begins

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

1. In the first signs of a staff shakeup, President Trump's communications director Mike Dubke is leaving the White House, though his last day has not yet been set. Dubke resigned on May 18 after about three months working for Trump and offered to stay until the end of the president's first foreign trip. 2. Scrutiny now turns to Jared Kushner's security clearance in the wake of the reports that he sought to set up back channel communications with Russia during the transition. 3. Europe is sticking it to the U.S. with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's message to Europeans to "take our fate into our own hands" and French president Emmanuel Macron's "moment of truth" white-knuckle handshake, which he said "wasn't innocent." 4. Tensions boiled over in Texas over SB4, a new ban on sanctuary cities, bringing an end to a contentious legislative session with a near fistfight and with one Texas lawmaker reportedly threatening another, "I'll put a bullet in your head"

THE TAKE with ABC News' Rick Klein

Office politics is a dangerous game when played White House style. A week that figures to be dominated by talk of staff changes and revamped teams has a twist: the problem-child staffer is the boss' son-in-law – whom the president has expressed "total confidence in,". Different rules apply when it comes to family, and the latest news on Jared Kushner would be complicated enough without the entanglements and conflicts-of-interest that the Trump family approach to the presidency invites. What's been alleged about Kushner and the Russians is inexplicable behavior, until or unless Kushner (whose voice has almost never been heard in public) explains himself. So yes, that explanation would fall to the embattled communications team – the one that people outside the White House are telling President Trump is failing him. This highlights what that team is up against: a series of overlapping scandals that keep expanding to add new players and circles – and in this case, reaching into an innermost circle. When you overlay a shakeup plan on that reality, you realize the problems aren't with – and certainly aren't exclusively with - those who can be fired.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I don't like it. I just don't. I know that some administration officials are saying, 'Well, that's standard procedure.' I don't think it's standard procedure prior to the inauguration of the president of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position," Sen. John McCain speaking about Jared Kushner in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp.