A certain conventional wisdom in Washington has it that a sober triad is alone keeping the White House—and hence the country—from falling into complete chaos. (Notice I said complete.) Some wags identify the trio as “the generals”—Defense Secretary James Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster—while some substitute Eagle Scout Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, for General McMaster. It might turn out, however, that it’s a man nobody thinks of as a dutiful public servant who’s actually been staving off disaster—and he’s just left the building.
Gary Cohn announced on Tuesday he would be stepping down from the directorate of the National Economic Council. You might say that disputation didn’t drive him away, but duties did. Donald Trump’s top economic adviser stayed on after the president made controversial remarks at a press conference last summer, as Cohn stood behind him, about the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville—though he tried to have his cake and eat it too by letting the press know that Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” comments made him consider resigning.
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