White House Mulls Cutting Communications Staff to Prevent More Embarrassing Leaks

In a desperate effort to plug ongoing leaks, the White House may begin cutting communications staff, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported Thursday night.

Sources within the administration told CNN that the option is under consideration, and would involve downsizing the staff of about two dozen.

The ousters may even occur at random, the network said.

“They’re not going to outright fire people, but shift them either out of the administration or into other departments outside of the West Wing,” Collins noted.

The problem, she further explained, is that the administration has yet to find the source of the leaks. She added that several staffers told her “they still have not figured out who it is that leaked the Sadler remark specifically.”

Rather than targeting specific individuals for firings, the White House may simply choose to cut back on the number of employees privy to leak-prone meetings.

“They’re going to shift out some junior staffers who they don’t think have clearly defined roles, but this really just goes to show what the White House is doing to combat that leak to try to reduce the number of leaks,” Collins said.

The idea is being floated following the leak of a joke made about Sen. John McCain‘s (R-AZ) cancer by staffer Kelly Sadler, who said his political opinion was worthless because he’s “dying anyway.”

But it sounds like a staff reduction won’t work, according to Collins. She reported that “dozens of staffers” believe it would be pointless because of how many officials communicate with reporters every day, a list which even includes the president, who has been known to call up his Fox News friends personally. 

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

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