The RNC’s chief of staff is stepping down
The departure comes amid growing speculation that Donald Trump will push for changes at the committee.
Republican National Committee chief of staff Mike Reed is set to step down from his role later this month.
Reed had served as chief of staff at the committee since Jan. 2022. In an email to staff on Tuesday, obtained by POLITICO, he said that he wanted to focus on his “growing family [that] needs and deserves my attention.”
Two people familiar with Reed’s move say it has been in the works for around a year. They said he accepted his new job with Cornerstone, a government relations and public affairs firm, last fall but chose to remain at the RNC through the committee’s winter meeting last week in Las Vegas.
But the move also comes amid growing speculation that former President Donald Trump, the strong frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination, will push for a shakeup in leadership at the committee. And Reed himself acknowledged that timing element in his note to staffers.
“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, the RNC is in an incredibly strong position,” Reed wrote.
Trump met with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, one day after he said in a interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” that he expected there would be “changes” at the RNC. After his meeting with McDaniel, the former president wrote a post on Truth Social that sidestepped the question of whether McDaniel would remain as chair through the election.
“Ronna is now Head of the RNC, and I’ll be making a decision the day after the South Carolina Primary as to my recommendations for RNC Growth,” Trump wrote.
Reed addressed the prospect of changes in his note staff.
“We always knew there would be some changes once we had a presumptive nominee, and we welcome that,” he wrote. “Chairman McDaniel has had great conversations with President Trump over the last few days and weeks. She will continue to lead this organization to merge seamlessly should he be the nominee.”
McDaniel, who was handpicked by Trump to chair the RNC after he won the 2016 election, is the longest-serving RNC chair in modern history. While she and Trump have long been allies, there has recently been tension between the former president and the committee. Trump has attacked the RNC for its decision to host primary debates, which Trump refused to participate in. He said the committee should instead be focused on issues related to voter integrity.
Trump’s allies have also raised concerns about the RNC’s fundraising. The RNC ended last year with just $8 million in the bank, a fraction of what the Democratic National Committee has.
Reed did not say who his successor would be. McDaniel in a statement called her outgoing chief of staff “a calm and steady hand.”
“I will miss having Mike guide me and our staff,” she added, “but I am so happy and excited for his next adventure and that he will be able to spend more time with his wife Alice and their beautiful children.”
Campbell Kaufman, Cornerstone’s president, said in a statement that “adding Mike to the team is obviously a huge development for the firm and I couldn’t be happier he is joining us.”