I missed the nuance

"Acting" Chief of Staff.




"For the record" he couldn't find anyone willing to take it.  Not Nick Ayers, not Jared, not even Chris Christie.  Hell, Rick Santorum went on TV and said he wouldn't take it, even though he hadn't even been asked.  (What a loser.  How is he still around?)  And, the story is Mulvaney was at the White House for a meeting about the budget when he was asked if he'd take the job.

You can tell so much about West Wing dynamics by the way Trump announced Mick Mulvaney — already wearing two hats as White House budget director and acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — as his acting chief of staff.

Trump blurted out his decision with a 5:18 p.m. Friday tweet, amid coverage of how few top people wanted the job.

[...]

Trump keeps control and doesn't fully empower his guy, reminding Mulvaney who the real chief of staff is: No funny business like General John Kelly tried to pull, restricting enablers' access to POTUS.

[...]

A senior administration official who spoke to reporters at the White House said: "There’s no time limit." Asked why Mulvaney was named "acting," the official said: "Because that’s what the president wants."

A White House statement last night said: "Mick Mulvaney will not resign from the Office Of Management and Budget, but will spend all of his time devoted to his role as the acting Chief Of Staff for the President. Russ Vought will handle day to day operations and run OMB."

  Axios

"Because that's what the president wants."

Two sources told NBC that Mulvaney was the one who requested the "acting" title. One person told NBC that Mulvaney wanted to step into the role with a safe exit in place, if needed.

  CNBC

Fake news, I'm sure.

"Mick Mulvaney will not resign from the Office of Management and Budget, but will spend all of his time devoted to his role as the acting chief of staff for the president," Sanders said. "Russ Vought will handle day to day operations and run OMB."

  CBS

Apparently, last week some time the Senate approved Kathy Kraninger as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but why not promote the acting director of the OMB to director if it's true that Mulvaney will be spending "all of his itme devoted to his role as the acting chief of staff" ?  He must feel a bit slighted.

The Kansas City Star has the list of the "many" people who actually did want the job:

British journalist Piers Morgan suggested he would be a good fit in an op-ed for The Daily Mail, while former major league slugger Jose Canseco tweeted his interest to Trump.

[...]

When former House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited the White House this week, he insisted it was merely to see the Christmas decorations.

  Kansas City Star

 Also, Stephen Colbert on his comedy show suggested he'd take the job because it would be "fun".

UPDATE:

Also...



So now he's the right hand man to a terrible human being.  Nice.