'Toxic work environment': MAGA congresswoman loses 3 senior staff in less than a week
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), one of the most pro-Trump members of Congress, is seeing a mass exodus of her top staffers, with three leaving in the last week.
According to the Washington Examiner, former chief of staff Don Hanlon was fired, while deputy chief of staff Richard Chalkey resigned and legislative director Randal Meyer is resigning at the end of December. All three were four-year alumni of the Trump administration, and the Examiner's source described Hanlon as a "day one" hire for Mace. This comes on top of three junior-level staffers who left Mace's office since October.
The Examiner's source added that Mace's office was a "toxic work environment," that there could be complete staff turnover by the end of the year and that Hanlon even took the office popcorn machine on his way out.
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Rep. Mace's staff exodus is likely due to her role as one of eight House Republicans who voted to strip the gavel from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) in October. The Examiner reported that during the chaotic three-week battle within the House Republican Caucus to elect a new speaker, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-North Carolina) demanded she apologize "for causing this mess." Mace was one of the small handful of Republicans who denied House Majority Leader Steve Scalise's (R-Louisiana) bid for the speakership, citing his past comments favorably comparing himself to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
Mace has carved out a name for herself as one of former President Donald Trump's biggest defenders in the House of Representatives. Despite Trump fielding a primary challenger against her, the congresswoman has since warmed to Trump's positions, particularly on his multiple criminal indictments. Following the news that Trump had been indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Mace was the first House Republican to defend the ex-president on Fox News.
Politico reported earlier this year that Mace has meshed her political operations with Trump's. In 2016, she worked on his first campaign as a multistate field director, with campaign media consultant Chris LaCivita now a part of Trump's inner circle as a senior adviser to the former president. Her campaign manager, Austin McCubbin, is now working for Trump's 2024 campaign as his state director in South Carolina. McCubbin is reportedly also making moves to have Mace endorse Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
READ MORE: 'National Nancy' Mace's top priority is no one but herself: ex-staffers
