WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump has called Attorney General Jeff Sessions "beleaguered" and even "VERY weak," but Sessions seemed to get good news from the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on Monday.
Sanders said Trump has "100 percent confidence" in all of his Cabinet secretaries in response to a question about Sessions' job status during the daily White House briefing.
Last week, when speculation about Sessions was rife, Sanders repeatedly declined opportunities to provide such assurances that the attorney general enjoyed the president's full confidence. Trump himself said "time will tell," when he was asked last week about Sessions.
The willingness to tamp down speculation about Sessions may reflect the arrival on Monday of retired Gen. John Kelly as the new White House chief of staff _ he is tasked with restoring order to the administration.
Sanders also batted down reports that the White House was discussing moving Sessions to another post, as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. That job became vacant on Monday after Kelly was sworn in as chief of staff.
Sanders said the White House has had "no conversations" about any Cabinet members switching jobs.
Republican senators have publicly opposed firing Sessions, and a couple have objected to shifting him to another post as well, given that it could appear that Trump is trying to affect the investigations of himself and his campaign in the context of Russia's election interference.
Trump has said publicly that his frustration with Sessions, once among his closest allies, stems from Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, an act that led to the appointment of a special counsel.
