BRIDGEWATER, N.J. _ Enemies of White House adviser Steve Bannon welcomed his departure Friday, but warned that the administration's split with the architect of President Donald Trump's populist agenda did not go far enough.
"There is one less white supremacist in the White House, but that doesn't change the man sitting behind the Resolute desk," said Michael Tyler, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans, though, remained largely silent. Even those lawmakers outside Bannon's circle of influence at the White House and with far-right groups declined to speak.
Few Republicans seemed willing to risk retaliation for comments critical of Trump, or Bannon, who many expect will have an unbridled platform now that he is out of the administration.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. both declined comment.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in Lubbock, Texas, that he prefers to "ignore the political circus" of Washington.
"You know, it's easy for Washington to get consumed by the back and forth personalities, who's up, who's down, who's fighting with whom," Cruz said. "My standard approach is that I don't worry about that."
Allies of Democrats, meanwhile, accelerated their campaign to expose others in the White House whom they see as sharing Bannon's nativist views, and to remind voters that the final tone of the administration rests with Trump and his actions.
"Personnel changes are fascinating and dramatic, but let's just remember how little of a difference it makes with this president," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. "It's the president that matters."
Kurt Bardella, a former House Republican aide who split with Bannon after a stint at Breitbart.com, suggested the former adviser will continue to wield influence from outside the administration.
"Steve will do exactly what he has been doing from Day 1_ try to 'bring everything crashing down,'" Bardella wrote.
"In many ways, I think Steve will feel liberated. Free from the limitations of 'serving' or 'answering' to somebody," he wrote. "Now, he will be able to operate openly and freely to inflict as much damage as he possibly can on the 'globalists' that remain in the Trump Administration."
Many Democrats, who had long called for Bannon to be dismissed, pressed for further action.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced her support Friday for a congressional resolution to censure Trump after his statements about the neo-Nazi demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in television ads that one "is not enough" and called for the dismissal of other White House aides it characterized as belonging to the far right.
The Congressional Black Caucus released a list of 10 administrative policies, including the travel ban, immigrant deportations and voter fraud investigations, "that need to go, too."
"Steve Bannon's firing is welcome news, but it doesn't disguise where President Trump himself stands on white supremacists and the bigoted beliefs they advance," Pelosi said.
"Personnel changes are worthless so long as President Trump continues to advance policies that disgrace our cherished American values," she said. "The Trump administration must not only purge itself of the remaining white supremacists on staff, but abandon the bigoted ideology that clearly governs its decisions."
Some lawmakers hoped that Bannon's departure shows that the recently appointed White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, might be able to bring stability to the chaotic White House.
"Looks like general John Kelly is taking control of the White House," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla, said in a Twitter post. "That is a good thing."
