Something strange is happening at the White House right now, and it could turn into a much bigger story than the departure of one press secretary.
Karoline Leavitt has left her position as White House press secretary. Her departure was announced on August 12 and Donald Trump still has not selected a replacement.
According to CBS News, the current plan is to rotate different administration officials through the briefing room rather than immediately install another permanent press secretary. That raises an interesting possibility: What if Trump simply decides he doesn’t need a traditional White House press secretary anymore?
That would be a significant change in how this administration communicates with the press and, by extension, with the American public.
The rotating briefing room
We have already gotten a preview of what this might look like.
When Leavitt was briefly out on maternity leave, the White House did not appoint an acting press secretary. Instead, different administration officials appeared before reporters depending on the day and the subject. JD Vance might speak. Marco Rubio could come out. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent might take questions.
At the same time, formal White House press briefings became less frequent.
Now Leavitt has left permanently, and there still appears to be no successor waiting to take over. The temporary arrangement may end up becoming the permanent one.
I have had plenty of criticisms of Leavitt. Her briefings were often filled with propaganda. She attacked journalists and routinely repeated Trump’s false claims. Nobody watching my show would mistake me for a Karoline Leavitt fan.
Still, eliminating the position entirely creates a different problem.
Whatever you think of the person occupying the job, a White House press secretary has a defined responsibility: stand in front of reporters and answer questions on behalf of the president and his administration.
Without that person, accountability becomes much easier to avoid.
A convenient way to dodge questions
Interestingly, some reporters have described a major difference between Leavitt’s public and private behavior.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins has said that despite their combative public relationship, Leavitt advocated for Collins to be allowed into press areas on multiple occasions, including during overseas trips when her access was in question. Other reporters have similarly described Leavitt as someone who could be responsive behind the scenes, providing information even while publicly battling with the media.
That isn’t praise for Leavitt. It illustrates what could disappear with the position.
Imagine how a rotating system works when an uncomfortable story breaks.
If the White House wants to discuss Iran, it can send Marco Rubio to the briefing room. Reporters ask about something involving Trump personally, and Rubio can simply explain that he is the secretary of state and cannot speak to it.
If the administration wants to discuss the economy, send Scott Bessent. Ask him about an unrelated controversy and he can say the same thing. He is the Treasury secretary. That issue isn’t his department.
Vance, Rubio, Bessent and other administration officials have their own jobs and their own portfolios. None of them would have the same responsibility to answer broadly for the president.
And if the White House really doesn’t want to talk about something, perhaps nobody comes out at all.
That is where this starts to become concerning.
An administration already hostile to the press
This would be happening within an administration that has already made traditional press access increasingly difficult.
Briefings have become more infrequent and spaced out. Trump routinely attacks the media. The White House has restricted access to some traditional outlets while giving favorable treatment to friendly media figures and outlets.
Removing the permanent press secretary would take that trend another step further.
There is also something unusual about the way Leavitt’s departure has unfolded. When other major Trump administration officials recently announced their departures, including Tulsi Gabbard, Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, successors were announced immediately or relatively quickly.
Leavitt announced that she was leaving three weeks ago. Her departure is now here, and there is still no announced replacement.
Maybe Trump was blindsided. Maybe there was no larger plan. Maybe he simply hasn’t found somebody he wants.
There is also the possibility that finding someone sufficiently loyal who is willing to stand in front of reporters, lie, and defend whatever Trump said six minutes earlier is harder than it sounds.
Several names have floated around. Alina Habba was rumored to be a possibility. Anna Kelly would seemingly offer continuity after serving as Leavitt’s deputy. CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings was also mentioned because his combative style would presumably fit what Trump wants from the position.
One by one, those possibilities seem to have faded from the conversation.
What happens if nobody gets the job?
Trump could announce a new press secretary tomorrow and make much of this speculation irrelevant.
But based on what we know right now, the administration appears prepared to operate without a permanent replacement and instead use a rotating cast of officials.
If that continues, Leavitt’s departure becomes the smaller story.
The bigger story would be a president deciding that the White House no longer needs a dedicated person responsible for regularly answering questions from the press on his behalf.
The press secretary is one of the most visible connections between the decisions made inside the White House and the people trying to understand those decisions outside of it. Reporters get an opportunity to ask what the president is doing, why he is doing it, and what his administration’s position actually is.
The answers may be evasive. They may be misleading. They may sometimes be outright false. But reporters at least have someone whose job requires them to show up and face those questions.
Take away that conduit and avoiding scrutiny becomes much easier.
An administration that genuinely valued transparency and communication with the American people would presumably be eager to make clear who is taking over such a prominent role. More than two weeks after Leavitt announced her departure, that clarity still hasn’t arrived.
Maybe Anna Kelly gets the job. Maybe Alina Habba reemerges. Maybe Scott Jennings decides he wants to trade his current media gig for the privilege of standing in the briefing room whenever the White House decides to hold a briefing.
Or maybe nobody gets it.
And if that happens, we should pay very close attention to what disappears along with the title.
What do you think? Is Trump eventually going to name another press secretary, or are we watching the traditional White House briefing slowly fade away?
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That's not the most pressing issue for me at this time. He lies like a rug... and that will likely continue whether he pays another flunkee to do it for him... or covers it himself.
What’s the difference? She never told the truth anyway