Tillerson blows up at top White House aide
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/28/tillerson-blows-up-at-white-house-aide-240075
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s frustrations with the White House have been building for months. Last Friday, they exploded.
The normally laconic Texan unloaded on Johnny DeStefano, the head of the presidential personnel office, for torpedoing proposed nominees to senior State Department posts and for questioning his judgment.
Tillerson also complained that the White House was leaking damaging information about him to the news media, according to a person familiar with the meeting. Above all, he made clear that he did not want DeStefano’s office to “have any role in staffing” and “expressed frustration that anybody would know better” than he about who should work in his department — particularly after the president had promised him autonomy to make his own decisions and hires, according to a senior White House aide familiar with the conversation.
Tensions are getting higher and higher in the White House. Tillerson wants qualified careerists to be appointed, but many want political people instead. This has led to a lot of areas to be understaffed. This reminds of the Mattis situation.