President Donald Trump has many ideas on how to cut costs that came together with the White House with the latest one being his wife’s office employees.
The number of employees in Melania Trump’s office has reached a total number of 20 people.
Anita McBride, who worked under the last three republican presidents and was also the chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush had this to say regarding the entire matter:
“There is no right way or wrong way to do it,” said McBride. “There’s no statutory authority for the first lady. You write the job description as you come in.”
First Lady, Melania Trump, has taken her time in building her office and finding staffers that would suit her needs best. She is currently residing in NYC with her son Barron Trump, but visited the White House on Friday, to welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Melania Trump has so far found her chief of staff and a social secretary that will take care of her ventures and events in the future.
However, other first ladies, including Michelle Obama, have composed their team long before their husbands were inaugurated.
“I am putting together a professional and highly experienced team, which will take time to do properly,” Melania Trump stated. On his first day in office, Trump implemented a hiring freeze for the entire federal government except the military to make good on a campaign pledge to save taxpayers money.
Donald trump is making an effort to save the country some money, that mostly comes from taxpayers. He only allowed for the military to employ staffers if needed.
Three people, who are not allowed to discuss the matter in details but are observing the entire situation, are saying that until now the White House jobs held 400-450 positions, a number that Trump plans on deducting.
Many people believe that Trump is making a mistake by doing this since every job given to an individual in the White House is for a purpose. This means that if the president decides to fire some people, the burden of the work will fall on the others.
There is still no official statement from the White House, although Sean Spicer stated that Trump will consider every option before making this decision final.
“There’s going to be a respect for taxpayers in this administration, so that whether it’s salaries or actual positions or programs, he’s going to have a very, very tough look at how we’re operating government, how many positions they’re in, what people are getting paid,” he said.
Last Month, VP Pence stated the following regarding the issue, “We’re wrapping up this transition on schedule and under budget.”
Ken Nahigian, who is currently in charge of Trump’s transition team also did not provide an explanation regarding this occurrence.
However, Congress saved $9.5 million that will cover transition costs.
Furthermore, Trump’s team gathered money from donations, just like Obama did back in 2008. Michelle Obama’s staff attempted to meet with Melania Trump’s staff during the transition, but there was no one to meet with, according to several people.
Ebs Burnough, who served as deputy social secretary in the Obama White House, found it weird that Melania did not pick a social secretary, especially on Inauguration Day. “That’s a key office,” he said. “It’s the lifeblood of that house.”
“That’s a key office,” he said. “It’s the lifeblood of that house.”
The people who normally work in a First lady’s office are policy personnel, schedule composers, communication staff, and correspondents. Even more so, the social secretary alone has four people in her team.
The First Lady’s pick for chief of staff is Lindsay Reynolds, who also worked for President George W. Bush. Additionally, Melania’s social secretary became Anna Cristina Niceta Lloyd, who also planned last five inaugurations.
Melania Trump has been in the public eye many times, and she was especially vulnerable when she was accused of stealing Michelle Obama’s speech.
Now, as a First Lady, Melania will mostly focus on stopping cyberbullying- a plan that is yet to be put into practice.
(via: World Politicus)
