President-elect Donald trump has named two top advisers to his administration Sunday, tapping Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus to be his new chief of staff and Steve Bannon, the Trump campaign CEO and executive chairman of Breitbart News, as chief strategist and senior counselor.
"Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again," Trump said in the release.
It's an unusual arrangement that could create two power centers in the new White House. The campaign statement, which listed Bannon's role first, referred to the two men as "equal partners."
"Bannon and Priebus will continue the effective leadership team they formed during the campaign, working as equal partners to transform the federal government, making it much more efficient, effective and productive," it said.
The dynamic will continue the structure of the two men's roles in the campaign, with Priebus and Bannon working as partners, but with very different Trump constituencies to manage. Both Priebus and Bannon were highly involved with working out the arrangement, a source familiar with the decision said.
Priebus should be a reassuring presence to establishment Republicans still uncertain about what a Trump White House will look like. The pick signals that Trump may look to build bridges in Washington and keep continuity with longtime Republican agendas, as opposed to make waves from the beginning.
Priebus is among the longest serving chairmen of the Republican Party, and has generally been popular amid different factions within the party. He is largely credited with building the ground game that elected Trump and with helping to unite his party after a divisive primary that resulted in many Republicans shunning Trump's nomination.
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