Report: GOP senator once called Mulvaney ‘the most dangerous man’ in Washington

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) once called acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney “the most dangerous man” in Washington because of his influence over President Trump. 

The New York Times, citing three people familiar with the exchange, reported on Tuesday that Shelby made the remark while speaking with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) during the government shutdown. 

{mosads}Shelby had reportedly grown frustrated with Mulvaney’s ability to undo weeks of bipartisan negotiations by making a brief comment to Trump. Shelby has not repeated the statement about Mulvaney in public. 

But the Times noted that when a reporter asked Shelby about Mulvaney on Capitol Hill, the senator interrupted to say, “You mean the acting chief of staff?”

Shelby’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. 

The details about Shelby’s comment comes as part of an expansive report on how the dynamic in the White House appears to have changed since Mulvaney became acting chief of staff.

Mulvaney assumed the position earlier this year after former White House chief of staff John Kelly departed. 

The Times notes that Mulvaney has gained a number of supporters and critics in his first months in the position, with some viewing him as a figure who has mitigated rivalries within the White House. 

Others believe the former GOP congressman has influenced the president in negative ways. 

“I hope that the president or some of the people around him will realize that his administration is far from a fine-tuned machine,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor, according to The Times. “It’s a slow-motion disaster machine that the American people see in action every day.”