Personnel note: Kay Ivey taps former Congressman Jo Bonner to be new chief of staff
On her second day of her first full term, Governor Kay Ivey announced on Tuesday announced a major change in her office. Former U.S. Representative Jo Bonner will be her new chief of staff. Bonner will replace longtime confidant and chief of staff Steve Pelham who will be leaving the Governor’s Office to become the new Vice President for Economic Development and Chief of Staff to Auburn University President Steven Leath in February. Pelham became Ivey’s chief of staff when she was elected Alabama’s first Republican woman Lieutenant Governor in 2011. “Steve has been a close friend and a trusted confidant for a number of years and has provided our office with outstanding leadership,” Ivey said. “When we made the transition to the Governor’s Office in 2017, Steve was responsible for leading the effort to make certain the Ivey Administration was up and running on day one. He has maintained that level of commitment to our organization, structure and focus to details throughout our first term together.” Bonner joined the Ivey Administration on December 1, 2018, as the governor’s senior advisor. Prior to that he served as Interim Executive Director for the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority and prior to that as Vice Chancellor for Economic Development for The University of Alabama System. Before that, Bonner represented Alabama’s First District in the U.S. House of Representatives, being elected to six terms. In Congress, Bonner earned a reputation as a respected and influential voice of reason in both Alabama and Washington, D.C. He was a member of the House Appropriations Committee, where he served on three key subcommittees, as well as the House Ethics Committee. Widely respected on both sides of the aisle, Bonner was selected by House Speaker John Boehner to serve as chairman of the House Ethics Committee in the 112th Congress. “Jo brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our administration, and I know we aren’t going to miss a step as my cabinet, staff and I work, every day, to honor the support and confidence the people of Alabama gave us last November,” Ivey added. “Jo Bonner is a respected leader and a known quantity in Washington and throughout Alabama. We knew he would be a valuable addition to our team when I announced he was joining us last month.” Ivey has encouraged Pelham to take some time off so that he may have the opportunity to regroup before he transitions to his new role, today is his last day in the office. As a result, Bonner will become Chief of Staff upon Pelham’s final separation but will immediately assume those responsibilities during his transition.
Sen.-elect Doug Jones to become only Democratic senator with black chief of staff
U.S. senator-elect Doug Jones owes a great deal of gratitude to a group of Alabama organizers who played a critical role in securing the black vote for him in the special election earlier this month. On Tuesday, Jones tipped his hiring hat their way as he heeded their advice to hire people of color to lead his Senate staff, when he announced Dana Gresham would be his Senate Chief of Staff. Gresham, a former assistant secretary for government affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be the only African-American chief of staff in a Democratic Senate office this Congress. A Birmingham native, Gresham has over fourteen years of Capitol Hill experience. For eleven of his fourteen years working on Capitol Hill, he served in senior staff positions within the Alabama Congressional Delegation. Specifically, for six years, Mr. Gresham served as Chief of Staff to Representative Artur Davis and for five years he served first as Legislative Assistant and then Legislative Director for Representative Bud Cramer. He began his career on Capitol Hill as a Staff Assistant for Representative Eva Clayton from North Carolina. Alabama’s sole Democrat in the House, 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, tweeted her support of Jones’ hiring decision. “Great News! Birmingham’s own stand out Dana Gresham chosen to be Chief of Staff to Alabama’s Senator Doug Jones! Looking forward to working with them to move Alabama forward!! @GDouglasJones,” she tweeted. Great News! Birmingham’s own stand out Dana Gresham chosen to be Chief of Staff to Alabama’s Senator Doug Jones! Looking forward to working with them to move Alabama forward!! @GDouglasJones pic.twitter.com/eyfZm6ZdAd — Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) January 2, 2018 Jones will be sworn in on Wednesday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Let me help John Kelly out: 9 rules for White House staff in plain terms
Looking at the home screen of Alabama Today last night, I noticed that the posts reflected that, in the fleeting time since leaving town for a college reunion in the great state of Colorado, the world had turned upside down. Not only was it a shake up for those whose lives and livelihoods depend on following the comings and goings at the White House, but also for those who follow Donald Trump‘s administration and actions of his staff. My last post was about the short-lived career of Anthony Scaramucci, “The Mooch,” as communications director. I didn’t get a chance to get the spelling of “Scaramucci” down (without double-checking it) before he was gone. But, alas, bye-bye. Don’t let the door hit you and all that — on better thought, go ahead. You deserve it. (For the humanity rant: Who sends the mother of their child a text message after she’s given birth to your child who’s in a NICU? Estranged or not there was no recovering from that factoid. Insults to senior white house staff aside I can think of some much better names than “The Mooch” for you on this one.) One only needed to read the New Yorker to know how short a life span would be for a comms director who didn’t have the wherewithal to go off the record before losing his mind. Even in a Donald Trump White House, Scaramucci’s tirade was over the top (and that’s saying a lot). Revisiting my first thought, perhaps the world is not upside down at the White House. On the contrary, maybe, finally, it is coming right side up. In his short time, there it seems as if General John Kelly is demonstrating that he is up to the task of getting the ship in order. Let me tell you, I know — from firsthand experience — there are significant challenges (though most of them not insurmountable) which come with working with, or for, an elected official who’s never held office. Kelly is off to a great start, identifying some of the biggest problems and attempting to fix them. In my years working for and around those who have never held office, here are some of the biggest challenges I’ve seen them face — due to staff ego and/or inexperience — and how to fix them. Exploiting the previous relationship with the boss Look we know you were in the trenches with him/her before things got real. When no one was paying attention and your odds were in the single digits. You were at the table giving advice and pep talks before going home to family and friends needing your own. Here’s the thing: Whatever title and job you have now, “official cheerleader” and “national brainstormer” is not it. You were hired to do a very specific job in a very specific way and if you weren’t your first job is to figure out what you should be doing and then run that by the COS. You may want to be the guy/girl in the room for every meeting, solving every problem, addressing every issue, but the only person with that job is the chief of staff. So, step back and look at what it is you were actually hired to do and do it. Stop looking for the big guy to wink and nod at you and to invite you over for a quick chat or dinner. You’re serving him best when you’re doing the duties you’ve been assigned and are doing them well. Remaining in camps You came in before the primary. They came in after. You were brought in by Mr. Y and Mrs. W insisted they be hired. Suck it up buttercup. The day you walked into your office everyone tossed their old jerseys, and though it’s not fair, yours was drenched with blood, sweat and tears; theirs still had the tags on it at the moment you’re on the same team now, and all that matters are the wins moving forward. You can be nostalgic for how you got your awesome title and your pretty office without begrudging the guy down the hall for coming into his a different way. That guy down the hall needs to be your new best friend because that’s how this game works. This is how future wars are won: Shoulder to shoulder with the guy who was there Day One and the guy who’s just starting his Day One. Ladder climbing You were there in the trenches, and you paid your dues on the battlefield of a crowded primary that was short staffed. You were laughed at when you told people who you believed in, and you were mocked when you insisted your guy was going to win. Now, all you’ve got for your trouble is a tiny space in the EEOB as an assistant to the assistant of a program you didn’t ask to be put in. (That is unless you’re one of the lucky ones not hidden away in an agency which the campaign pointed at throughout race as one that doesn’t even need to exist.) Sorry, not sorry. That’s the way things go sometimes. I’ve got good news and bad news: Good news — there’s going to be a lot of moving and shaking. Bad news — If you don’t stop moping around and become a standout you’re going to be passed over again, and again by the guy who’s doing the job they have, not the job they want. At the end of the day, that’s what you’re being paid for. The guy who hired you didn’t hire you for the job you want to have, though maybe one day you’ll earn that opportunity he hired you for the pencil pushing task at hand. So get to it. Pursuing another agenda You joined the campaign because the candidate spoke to you about a cause or two. They were going to shake up the world, and you would have a front-row seat. A cause near
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus chosen as Donald Trump’s WH chief of staff
In the year of the outsider, Reince Priebus was the face of the Republican establishment. Yet the Republican National Committee chairman would come to earn the trust and confidence of President-elect Donald Trump, who on Sunday named Priebus as his chief of staff, along with flame-throwing media executive Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist. The position puts Priebus at the power center of the new Trump administration. The 44-year-old Wisconsin political operative will help guard access to the president-elect, guide policy and political decisions, and if past practice holds true, will often be, along with Bannon, the last person Trump consults before making major decisions. Priebus has no governing experience in Washington. Yet his extraordinary ability to build and maintain relationships with his party’s power brokers and grassroots sets him apart from other prospective chiefs of staff. The affable and slow-talking Priebus maintains a particularly close relationship with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is also from Wisconsin. At the same time, Priebus may have been almost as popular among the Republican National Committee’s 168 members, who represent many different factions of the GOP and come from every state in the nation. Trump’s new chief of staff and the House speaker met in the late 1990s when Priebus was a party activist in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and Ryan was running for Congress. Priebus eventually became the party chairman of Kenosha County, the First District (the speaker’s district) and then Wisconsin party chairman. He’s been a friend and adviser to Ryan all these many years. Priebus was already the longest serving chairman in party history, having worked in that role since January 2011, but he easily could have been re-elected early next year had he wanted to seek another term. More than anything, he served as the chief fundraiser for the Republican National Committee, a job he did very well. He used the tens of millions of dollars he helped raise to create a nationwide voter outreach operation that fueled Trump’s stunning victory. Still, his status as a party insider caught the attention of Trump supporters such as tea party leader Jenny Beth Martin. She warned on Saturday that, “No Washington insider, regardless of who it is, should serve as President Trump’s chief of staff.” “It’s time to drain the swamp – not promote insiders beholden to the Washington establishment who helped create it,” she said. Priebus’ ability to earn Trump’s trust and confidence ultimately outweighed any political concerns. He was perhaps the only major establishment leader to stand with Trump over the campaign’s final weeks as much of the political world predicted the Republican nominee would lose the election. Priebus became Trump’s regular traveling companion and confidant. He was optimistic until the very end. “I don’t buy this conventional wisdom that somehow or other, things are bad. I think things are going well,” he told The Associated Press a few days before the election. Priebus, a big Green Bay Packers fan, likes to talk sports, he plays the piano and is quick to poke fun at himself. His easygoing personality, self-deprecating humor and lack of knowledge of the legislative process, mark a particularly sharp contrast with President Barack Obama‘s first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. He married his high school sweetheart, Sally. They have two school-age children. Priebus “gets along with pretty much everybody,” said Lanhee Chen, a former top adviser to the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Chen called the pick “a terrific decision.” ”I think it reflects an understanding that, first of all, you have to have someone who understands the politics of Washington,” he said. Priebus has long favored a “big-tent” political philosophy that encourages the GOP to adopt a more welcoming and inclusive tone. Back in December, he condemned Trump’s plan to ban Muslim immigrants in December. “I think it’s the party for everybody. It’s for everyone,” Priebus told the AP days before Trump’s victory. “That the message that we’re trying to get out across the country, which is it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is, what your faith is, what gender you are, or what age you are. This is a party of freedom, opportunity and equality. That’s what our party is.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Personnel Update: Mike Rogers promotes Christopher R. Brinson to chief of staff
Earlier this week Alabama Today reported Congressman Mike Rogers current chief of staff Marshall Macomber announced he leaving the office. Today, Rogers announced his new chief of staff will be Christopher R. Brinson, his long time deputy chief of staff. Prior to joining Rogers office Brinson served in the U.S. Army Reserve Captain. A Salon.com article detailed a Brinson’s fight over a reprimand he received in the investigation of the Abu Ghraib scandal. U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Christopher R. Brinson, who in civilian life works as the deputy chief of staff for Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, was directly in charge of some of the military police later prosecuted for abuse at Abu Ghraib during the notorious autumn of 2003. Brinson received the reprimand in January 2006, but it had not been revealed publicly until his attorney, David P. Sheldon, confirmed it to Salon Thursday, noting that Brinson has since submitted a rebuttal to the Army. The attorney would not reveal the exact reason for Brinson’s punishment. Through Sheldon, Brinson told Salon that he was unaware of his soldiers’ actions, and blamed superior officers for what happened at the prison. “The responsibility for the command and control of the facility, and for the treatment of detainees, rests entirely with individuals well above him in the command structure,” Sheldon said in a statement to Salon. “The command structure that Captain Brinson inherited at Abu Ghraib was not of his making. Nor was the treatment of detainees something that members of his unit initiated. Captain Brinson had no knowledge while he was at Abu Ghraib of conduct by certain soldiers that subsequently led to criminal prosecutions of those soldiers,” Sheldon’s statement says. “At all times, Captain Brinson’s service to the United States Army has been and will remain honorable.” In a statement released by his office Rogers said: “First, I would like to thank Marshall for all his hard work and dedication. I know he will bring that same determination and skill to his new career. I wish him all the best. Chris has been on the Hill for over 17 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and managerial skills to the position. He is very familiar with East Alabama and I know he will be a great asset to me and my staff in this new role.”
