Spicer: People at White House are ‘burnt out’

“There are people who just are burnt out. There is a pace that this White House goes at that probably far exceeds any other White House in history,” Spicer, who left the White House last year, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton on “Rising.” 

 

Spicer also attributed the high turnover rate to a White House staff that did not all come from Washington, adding that working there was not a good fit for some. 

 

“It’s nontraditional. You had a president who wasn’t a politician, who wasn’t from Washington, wasn’t in government, so he didn’t have a group to call upon,” the former press secretary said. 

 

“So, he calls upon supporters and friends. It wasn’t a big and robust campaign that we didn’t pull people in from, so there’s a little bit of people trying to feel each other out on whether it was the right fit or not,” he continued. 

 

The White House has seen the departure of various high-profile officials, including Spicer himself, former communications director Anthony Scaramucci, as well as former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. 

 

The White House has also seen high-turnover among lesser-known employees. 

 

The Associated Press reported in July that 141 staffers who worked in the White House as of June 30, 2017, have stepped down from their posts, and 138 employees have been hired since then. 

 

Former White House counsel Don McGahn is the most recent high-profile departure. 

 

Trump announced last month McGahn would be leaving his position in the fall and has since started the process of looking for his replacement.

 

“Don’s probably been going at it at a million miles per hour for three plus years,” Spicer said. “In any other White House they would be talking about that fact that he’s been here two years, this is the average tenure of a White House counsel. Senior staff at the White House, in any White House, burns out at 18 to 24 months.”

 

— Julia Manchester