McCarthy brushes off prospect of becoming White House chief of staff

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday dismissed the suggestion that he has been in talks with the White House to become the next chief of staff.

“First of all, I have not spoken to the president about anything about a job. And I never have. And there is no job opening,” McCarthy said at a press conference in the Capitol when asked if he had discussed the chief of staff job with President Trump. 

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Axios previously reported that McCarthy was on the short list to replace then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who resigned last July after just over six months on the job.

John Kelly, who originally served as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security, ultimately replaced Priebus. But Kelly has come under fire in the last week for his handling of former staff secretary Rob Porter’s resignation.

Porter resigned last week following the publication of media reports in which his two ex-wives accused him of domestic violence. The White House has provided inconsistent accounts of when it knew of the allegations against Porter as the FBI conducted a background investigation for his security clearance.

McCarthy has developed a strong relationship with Trump compared to other GOP leaders in Congress.

The Washington Post reported last month, for example, that McCarthy asked a staffer to pick out pink and red Starbursts to give to Trump after noticing he only ate those flavors during a trip on Air Force One.