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The Exits
Two key figures inside Trump’s West Wing are heading for the door this fall. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wraps up her final week at the end of August. Congressional liaison James Blair has his last day set for sometime in September. Nobody has been tapped to fill either chair yet — and with November’s midterms closing in fast, the timing has Washington talking.
Karoline Leavitt
Leavitt, 28, became the youngest White House press secretary in American history when she took the role in January 2025. She gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Viviana, on May 1 while serving in the position — the first press secretary ever to have a child while in the job. She returned to the briefing room on July 16 after maternity leave.
Trump announced her departure on Truth Social, saying she was one of his most trusted aides. He called her one of the best press secretaries the office had ever seen and said she would continue as one of his top outside advisers heading into the midterms.
Leavitt confirmed the news on X. She said the role had been the honor and adventure of a lifetime and cited her responsibilities as a mother of two as the reason for stepping back.
She is the fifth woman in a senior position to leave the Trump administration this year. The others were Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. All four were replaced by men.
James Blair
Trump announced Blair’s departure on Truth Social shortly after Leavitt’s exit became public. Blair served as White House deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, overseeing the administration’s relationship with Congress. Trump credited him with helping pass the One Big Beautiful Bill — the administration’s major tax and immigration legislation — as well as the GENIUS Act on cryptocurrency and two government shutdown standoffs with Democrats.
Blair is a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, having worked in Vance’s Senate office before joining the White House. He will leave to work on Republican campaigns ahead of the midterms.
Why It Matters
The administration is losing both people at a moment when it can least afford uncertainty. Republican margins on Capitol Hill are thin. A handful of competitive races could flip either the House or the Senate in November. Losing that majority would make the final stretch of Trump’s second term significantly harder to navigate.
Presidential historian Tevi Troy told Politico that finding replacements with the same level of loyalty and institutional knowledge is rarely easy. New aides need time to learn the job — and that learning curve costs more the closer it gets to a major election.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers pushed back, saying the administration’s work would continue regardless of personnel changes.
Source: Politico, NBC News, CNN, Yahoo News, Washington Post, ABC News
