Vice President Mike Pence is ruffling feathers as he consolidates control of the Republican Party, The New York Timesreported Monday.
Pence is "unsettling a group of Mr. Trump’s fierce loyalists who fear they are forging a separate power base."
Two senior White House officials referred to "Pence's empire-building" after an aborted attempt to hire a GOP operative who was part of the Never Trump movement during the 2016 primaries.
The chaotic White House has created a situation where Pence "found a yawning opening within the West Wing, as Mr. Trump’s principal political aides spend much of their time managing his impulses and vying with each other, instead of overseeing the party and this year’s campaign."
The Vice President's chief of staff, Nick Ayers, hired William Kirkland away from the president and "Trump officials believe he will effectively run a shadow political office for Mr. Pence, a setup unheard-of so soon into a new administration."