{"id":2647366,"date":"2026-08-20T12:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-eyes-wh-insiders-to-replace-outgoing-legislative-affairs-chief\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:41:47","slug":"trump-eyes-wh-insiders-to-replace-outgoing-legislative-affairs-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-eyes-wh-insiders-to-replace-outgoing-legislative-affairs-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump eyes WH insiders to replace outgoing legislative affairs chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-eyes-wh-insiders-to-replace-outgoing-legislative-affairs-chief%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2647366&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump is expected to select a replacement for White House Legislative Affairs Director James Braid from among qualified staff already working in the White House,rather than seeking someone from outside. Possible candidates include Braid&#8217;s deputies, Jeff Freeland and Katie Bailey, with Vince Haley also considered a dark horse due to his experience working under Stephen Miller and with Newt Gingrich.Sources suggest Trump is likely to choose someone familiar with Capitol Hill or internal to the White House, as the role is not attractive to private sector candidates and involves dealing with complex issues like impeachment and oversight investigations.<\/p>\n<p>The White House has not officially commented, but insiders believe the new appointee will probably be an internal candidate because of the nature of the job and recent staffing trends. Braid and his deputy Blair have played key roles in passing legislation and negotiating with Congress,including ending government shutdowns. Braid, who previously staffed Republican Congress members and held positions with JD Vance, plans to leave his post in September, ahead of the midterms, a move aligned with past timing strategies for staff departures. Despite speculation, many do not see Braid\u2019s departure as linked to any 2028 presidential ambitions; rather, it appears to be part of his planned midterm transition.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4693611\/youth-movement-2028-presidential-election\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> is not expected to look far when selecting a replacement for outgoing <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"125\">White House<\/a> Legislative Affairs Director James Braid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sources close to the president told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that there are \u201ca lot\u201d of \u201cqualified\u201d staffers already working in the White House legislative shop who could be slotted in immediately to fill Braid\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4694467\/trump-white-house-insiders-replacement-legislative-affairs-chief\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump eyes White House insiders to replace outgoing legislative affairs chief<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4694265\/vance-5-million-hamptons-fundraiser\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Vance brings in $5 million in Hamptons fundraising event: Report<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4694206\/james-braid-leaves-white-house-liaison-congress\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>James Braid to leave role as White House liaison to Congress<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three sources close to the White House specifically floated Braid\u2019s deputy director, Jeff Freeland, as a replacement. Freeland currently serves as the administration\u2019s top liaison to the House of Representatives. Another source similarly suggested that Braid\u2019s other deputy, Katie Bailey, is in the running. She previously worked for Gov. Mike Braun (R-IN) while he was a U.S. senator.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One possible dark horse also floated for the job is Vince Haley, the director of Trump\u2019s Domestic Policy Council. Unlike Freeland or Bailey, Haley has no prior experience working on Capitol Hill. He did, however, work directly under Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller during Trump\u2019s first term.\u00a0Haley also worked for Newt Gingrich\u2019s advocacy group and helped the former House speaker write multiple books.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A GOP lawmaker close to the White House told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> on Thursday that Trump will likely tap \u201csomeone either in White House [legislative] shop\u201d or an \u201cexperienced senior staffer\u201d from Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[Braid] has a bunch of deputies that I\u2019m sure are pushing to be considered,\u201d said the lawmaker, noting that the eventual pick would \u201chave to have a good, candid relationship with members and James Blair,\u201d the top Trump aide who took a temporary leave of absence to run the president\u2019s outside political operation ahead of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"11675\">midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House declined to comment on personnel decisions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A source close to the White House agreed Braid\u2019s replacement is \u201cmost likely going to be an internal person\u201d because being Trump\u2019s director of legislative affairs is not \u201ca sexy job for people to leave the private sector.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat are you going to be dealing with? Impeachment and House oversight investigations?\u201d the source asked. \u201cFreeland already is the House lead. Pace McMullan left earlier this year. He would have been a name. And then Jay Fields as well, but he\u2019s in the same situation as Pace. They already went to the private sector. Why are they going to really come back?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source added that Trump administration and congressional aides had\u00a0\u201ca tough time at the end of 2020 getting a job\u201d after that year\u2019s election that there is little incentive \u201cto come back in the tail end of the administration\u201d and \u201cpresumably sign up for a year and a half or two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYour job prospects are probably a lot better now than they are two years from now,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Braid and Blair, \u201cthe Jameses\u201d as they\u2019re known in D.C., have worked hand in hand to whip critical votes on a number of Trump\u2019s legislative priorities, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The pair also spent weeks liaising with members of Congress to end the full <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-shutdown\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"18\">government shutdown<\/a> last year and the partial shuttering of the Department of Homeland Security this year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prior to joining the Trump White House, Braid spent roughly a decade staffing Republican members of Congress, culminating in positions as Vice President JD Vance\u2019s legislative director and deputy chief of staff in the Senate. Vance\u2019s vice presidential chief of staff, Jacob Reses, is also planning to exit his White House role by the end of the summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, outside advisers to Vance and people close to Braid waved off the idea that the departures signaled the ramping up of a potential 2028 presidential run on the part of the vice president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4693611\/youth-movement-2028-presidential-election\/\"><strong>A YOUTH MOVEMENT IS COMING FOR THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two sources familiar told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that, like outgoing press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Braid had \u201calways\u201d planned to leave the administration \u201caround the midterms.\u201d Braid, according to the White House, will leave his post in September and has already outlasted all four of Trump\u2019s legislative directors from his first term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJames is a WORK HORSE. He was back in the Senate like two days after his first kid was born, but it would not surprise me if he needs some family time,\u201d one of Braid\u2019s former Senate colleagues told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cI believe Jacob Reses was in the same boat with a child on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump likely to choose internal staff for Braid&#8217;s replacement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3007,"featured_media":2647367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26229711866536.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[84441,38198,3634,84440],"class_list":["post-2647366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-legislative-affairs","tag-political-appointments","tag-trump","tag-wh-insiders"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26229711866536.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647370,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647366\/revisions\/2647370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}