Daniel Lippman

Tim Wu, the White House adviser helping to drive the administration’s push to rein in corporate giants with tougher antitrust enforcement is planning to leave his position in the coming months. Wu is expected to return to teaching at Columbia Law School after a roughly year-and-a-half as special assistant to President Biden for technology and competition policy. Wu was part of a trio of antitrust hawks President Joe Biden installed in 2021 as part of a push to curb the power of sprawling companies — a fight that has focused in particular on tech titans like Amazon and Google.

Adam Candeub, the acting head of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has been named deputy associate attorney general. The political appointment does not require congressional confirmation. Candeub helped lead President Donald Trump’s crackdown against social media companies. Candeub has played a central role in carrying out Trump’s executive order targeting social media companies like Twitter and Facebook over allegations they censor conservative viewpoints.

Six senior officials at the US Agency for Global Media have filed a whistleblower complaint with the State Department’s inspector general and the US Office of Special Counsel, alleging that they were retaliated against for raising concerns about the new political leadership installed earlier in 2020 by President Donald Trump. The 32-page complaint accuses top officials at the taxpayer-funded media group of abusing their authority, violating the law and mismanaging the organization.

The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on social media companies. Chairman Simons, a veteran antitrust lawyer, hasn’t announced he’s leaving the agency. He is serving a term that doesn’t end until September 2024, and he cannot legally be removed by the president except in cases of gross negligence.

Constant infighting among top officials. Sudden departures of senior staffers without explanation. A leader who is disengaged and prone to falling asleep in meetings. The Commerce Department has reached its apex of dysfunction under Sec Wilbur Ross. The 81-year-old Commerce secretary, who has for months endured whispers that he is on the outs, spends much of his time at the White House to try to retain President Donald Trump’s favor, leaving his department adrift.

With few allies left in the West Wing, President Donald  Trump frequently leans on Dan Scavino, his unassuming social media guru (officially: senior adviser for digital strategy), for affirmation and advice about how his most sensitive policies will be received. To admirers, Scavino is a social media pioneer who fine-tunes Trump’s critical bond with his supporters. To critics, he is a yes-man and enabler who has no business working in the White House. Scavino routinely provides rationalizations or justifications for the president’s most controversial policy directives. 

President Donald Trump uses a White House cellphone that isn’t equipped with sophisticated security features designed to shield his communications, according to two senior administration officials — a departure from the practice of his predecessors that potentially exposes him to hacking or surveillance.

White House Chief Digital Officer Gerrit Lansing was among the six staffers who were dismissed from the White House recently after being unable to pass an FBI background check, apparently. The issue with the background check was over investments. Lansing previously led the digital department for the Republican National Committee.

The background check, security questionnaire SF86, must be completed by White House staffers for positions that cover national security. President Donald Trump's director of scheduling, Caroline Wiles, was also among the six staffers who did not pass the intensive FBI screening. She is the daughter of Susan Wiles, Trump’s Florida campaign director. Caroline Wiles resigned Feb 17 before the background check was completed.