John Kelly is reportedly eyeing the exit and called the White House 'a miserable place to work'
- White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly called the White House "a miserable place to work."
- Kelly is one of several officials considering leaving the White House, according to a report from The New York Times.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called the White House under President Donald Trump "a miserable place to work", according to a new report from The New York Times.
Kelly, who apparently made the remark to a group of visiting senators, is one of several officials reported to be considering leaving Trump's staff in the near future.
Trump is not worried about the turnover that is "expected to become an exodus after the November elections", according to the report, and prioritizes getting rid of people who are in the way of his priorities and repositioning people he favors, instead of hiring new people.
Former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon told The Times the uncertain environment in the White House is a deliberate move by Trump, as the former reality TV star prefers to govern with "drama, action, emotional power."
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on White House turnover, told The Times that Trump's staff turnover rate is tracking higher than his predecessors' and now stands at 51%.
Trump is increasingly calling and consulting outside advisers, which Tenpas told the Times can mean "emasculation" for the chief of staff as his authority with the president is worn down.
"It seems as though Chief of Staff Kelly is losing power by the day," Tenpas told The Times. "It's almost like a battery that's draining. I've not seen any presidency operate effectively without putting somebody in there that you respect and you can trust."
Rumors have swirled for months that the president and the former Marine Corps general have had a tense relationship, and Kelly was once reported to call Trump an "idiot" based on accounts by several officials.