白宮人事變動：凱利就任，斯卡拉穆奇走人

Tweeting that there is "no chaos" in the White House, President Donald Trump brought in a no-nonsense retired Marine Corps general, John Kelly, as his chief of staff Monday to restore order to an administration shaken by six months of policy setbacks, personnel changes and media leaks.

Within hours, White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci had been given his walking papers, in a sign that Kelly would assert authority in a way his predecessor Reince Priebus never was able to do as Oval Office gatekeeper.

Scaramucci's abrupt dismissal came little more than a week after he was brought in with great fanfare to head the battered White House communications shop. His hiring sent shivers through the staff as he threatened to fire anyone suspected of leaking information to the press. He quickly fell out of favor, however, after telephoning a reporter for the weekly magazine The New Yorker and unleashing an embarrassing, profanity-laced rant.

Scaramucci's departure was announced in a terse statement issued by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House communications director. Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best."

A short time later, Sanders, who had been named press secretary by Scaramucci on his first day in the job, told reporters, "The president certainly felt that Anthony's comments (to The New Yorker) were inappropriate for a person in that position."

Sanders said Scaramucci had been relieved of all duties in the White House, including a position with the Export-Import Bank that he held before being named communications director.

She also made clear that "the president has given full authority to General Kelly" to determine who has access to the Oval Office.

David Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Akron who has studied the office of the chief of staff, said Kelly's first day bodes well for his mission of righting the White House ship.

"If Kelly has been granted the power to hire and fire and to control access to the president, that is a good thing for the country," Cohen said. "Because he can restore some discipline and restore some sanity to the chaos that is gripping the White House."

On Capitol Hill, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine applauded the changes. "I was pleased to learn of [Scaramucci's] departure, and this shows me that General Kelly is taking firm control, and that he is not going to tolerate the kind of unacceptable behavior that Mr. Scaramucci has exhibited in just 10 days on the job."

"I salute General Kelly for making this one of his earliest moves," Collins said. "I believe General Kelly will impose discipline and order on a rather chaotic and conflict-ridden White House staff. This is a good move."

Among Kelly's biggest challenges will be stopping the leaks to reporters that have bedeviled Trump during his first six months in office, and controlling access to the Oval Office.

During his six months in the job, Reince Priebus was known to have been unable to keep a number of White House officials, including the president's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, from walking in on Trump unannounced, often with the intention of influencing administration policy. News reports this week said both Kushner and Ivanka Trump had given their blessing to Kelly's selection.

Akron University Professor Cohen says Trump "must have a different version of reality" if he thinks there is no chaos in the White House, but he also knows he needs a strong voice to control his impulsiveness.

"I think what we're going to see is over time the chief of staff and the president butting heads quite a bit," Cohen said. "I don't know if it'll be a relationship that will be successful in the long run."

Kelly's ability to succeed ultimately depends on whether Trump gives him full authority, the political scholar added, saying: "I have grave doubts whether President Trump will be able to change his management style."
川普總統一方面發推說白宮“沒有亂象”，一方面任用行事作風果斷的退役海軍陸戰隊上將約翰·凱利出任白宮辦公廳主任整頓局面。凱利星期一宣誓就職。六個月來，白宮不斷受到政策受挫、人事變動和媒體爆料的衝擊。

凱利上任幾個小時之內就要求白宮通訊聯絡主任安東尼·斯卡拉穆奇辭職，顯示出凱利會行使其前任雷恩斯·普利巴斯從未行使過的實權。

被解除職務的斯卡拉穆奇一個多星期前剛剛大張旗鼓地就任白宮通訊聯絡主任。他威脅要開除所有被懷疑向媒體泄密的工作人員，讓大家不寒而慄。然而，在致電“紐約客週刊”記者，頻爆粗口，顏面盡失後，馬上就失去了川普的信任。

白宮新聞祕書薩拉·哈克比·桑德斯星期一下午發表簡短聲明說：“安東尼·斯卡拉穆奇將不再擔任白宮通訊聯絡主任一職。斯卡拉穆奇先生覺得，最好能讓辦公廳主任約翰·凱利全新開始，並得以組建自己的團隊。我們向他致以最美好的祝願。”

桑德斯是斯卡拉穆奇上任第一天任命的白宮發言人。她稍後告訴記者說：“總統確實感覺，以安東尼的身份而言，他對紐約客記者說的那些話十分不當。”

桑德斯說，斯卡拉穆奇被解除了他在白宮的所有職務，包括就任通訊聯絡主任前在進出口銀行擔任的職務。

桑德斯還明確表示，“川普讓凱利上將全權決定，誰可以到橢圓辦公室見總統。”

對白宮辦公廳主任一職有專門研究的阿克倫大學政治學教授戴維·科恩說，凱利的使命是矯正白宮的航向，他第一天的動作是個良好的預兆。

科恩說：“如果凱利被授予人事任免權，並控制接觸總統的渠道，這對國家來說是好事情。因爲他能夠恢復些紀律，恢復些理性，現在的白宮備受亂象困擾。”

在國會山，來自緬因州的共和黨籍參議員蘇珊·柯林斯爲白宮的這一人事調整叫好。她說：“我樂見他的離職，這向我顯示，凱利將軍正在堅決控制局面，他不會容忍斯卡拉穆奇上任僅10天就表現出來的那種令人無法接受的行爲。”

柯林斯參議員說：“我爲凱利將軍採取的這一最早措施之一向他致敬。我相信，凱利將軍將在混亂和衝突不斷的白宮幕僚中間嚴格樹立紀律和秩序。這是一個好措施。“

凱利最大的挑戰將包括制止白宮幕僚向媒體泄露內部信息。川普執政頭六個月來一直受泄密問題的困擾。另一個挑戰是控制誰能進入白宮橢圓形辦公室直接與總統講話。

川普執政的頭六個月裏，時任白宮辦公廳主任的普利巴斯沒能起到橢圓形辦公室看門人的職責。包括總統女兒伊萬卡和女婿庫什納在內的一些白宮官員往往不宣而入就能同川普談話。他們找總統常常是爲了影響政策。媒體本週報道說，庫什納和伊萬卡都贊同任用凱利。

阿克倫大學的科恩教授說，如果川普認爲白宮沒有亂象，那他“一定有不同的現實解讀版本”，不過川普也知道，他需要一個強有力的聲音來控制他的衝動。

科恩說：“我認爲，我們將看到的是，隨着時間的發展，辦公廳主任和總統之間會出現不少碰撞。長期來看，我不知道這會不會是一個成功的關係。”

科恩認爲，凱利能否成功，最終取決於川普是不是充分授予他權威。科恩說：“川普總統是否能夠改變他的管理方式，我嚴重存疑。”

在凱利星期一宣誓就任的時候，川普說：“他絕對會是一位出色的辦公廳主任，對此我毫無疑問。”在隨後不久召開的內閣會議上，川普讚揚了他執政六個月期間凱利擔任國土安全部長時所作的工作。川普總統說：“他所作的簡直就是奇蹟。”他提到，今年的非法越境事件大幅下降。