In a surprise move, President Donald Trump on Friday named U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows his new chief of staff, replacing acting chief Mick Mulvaney.
Trump also announced on Twitter that Mulvaney would become U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland.
Trump did not give a reason for why he replaced Mulvaney.
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A request for comment from Meadows, who represents North Carolina, was not immediately returned Friday night.
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Meadows is considered one of Trump’s staunchest congressional allies. Meadows announced in December that he would not seek re-election in 2020. At the time, Meadows suggested that he could have a role in helping the president.
The lawmaker said then that his “work with President Trump and his administration is only beginning.”
“This President has accomplished incredible results for the country in just 3 years, and I’m fully committed to staying in the fight with him and his team to build on those successes and deliver on his promises for the years to come,” Meadows said in the December statement.
Mulvaney became Trump’s chief of staff in December 2018, after the president announced that John Kelly, his second chief of staff, was to leave at the end of that year.
Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, was removed by the president in July 2017 after six months on the job.
