Schumer: White House is getting ‘hollowed out’

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said the departure of economic adviser Gary Cohn is another sign the White House is getting “hollowed out.”

“One of the problems here is the White House is getting hollowed out and the number of people capable of doing things, of doing real things, whether you agree or disagree ideologically, is getting smaller and smaller. And they seem unable to recruit new people to take these jobs,” Schumer told reporters. 

“So the kind of mess-ups we’ve seen this past week, I think we’re going to see over and over and over again,” he continued. 

“The president’s erratic style — I didn’t vote for Jeff Sessions, but I think it’s a symbol to everybody, what he did to his best friend Jeff Sessions is. Don’t go work there,” he said, referring to Trump’s comments publicly ripping Sessions and the Justice Department. 

“And I have heard story after story of capable people in the Gary Cohn mode trying to be recruited by the White House and no one wants to go,” he added.

Sen. Schumer says the White House “is getting hollowed out”: “The kind of mess-ups we’ve seen this past week I think we’re going to see over and over and over again.” https://t.co/OMvuwjlmS3 pic.twitter.com/M9Fai2tBzz

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 7, 2018

Cohn announced his resignation from the administration on Tuesday, days after the president announced plans to slap steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. {mosads}

“It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people, in particular, the passage of historic tax reform,” Cohn said in a statement. 

“I am grateful to the president for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the administration great success in the future,” he continued.

Trump and Cohn had reportedly grown apart on the issue of trade policy, with Cohn arguing staunchly against tariffs. 

Cohn is expected to remain in the White House for the next several weeks. 

His resignation follows that of White House communications director Hope Hicks, who announced her departure last week. 

Hicks and Cohn join a growing group of individuals who have departed the White House over the past year, including Stephen Bannon, Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus.