Getty White House press secretary Sean Spicer responds to questions during a briefing at the White House June 20, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Sean Spicer has resigned as White House press secretary, The New York Times reported on Friday. Spicer reportedly stepped away from his position after “vehemently objecting” to the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director.
“The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to person with direct knowledge of the exchange,” The New York Times reported.
This comes after weeks of rumors that Sean Spicer would be leaving the White House and that there would be a major shakeup of the communications office; Politico reported last month that Sean Spicer was actively searching for his own replacement.
President Donald Trump and his staff now must come up with a replacement for Spicer; according to The Daily Beast, this replacement has not yet been determined.
So who might become the new White House press secretary? Here’s a look at some of the potential options.
UPDATE: During the press briefing on Friday afternoon, it was announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders will become the new White House press secretary.
1. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
GettySarah Huckabee Sanders speaks at the press briefing at the White House on June 27.
The clearest option for a Sean Spicer replacement would be Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal deputy White House press secretary.
After all, Sanders has already been regularly filling in for Spicer at White House press briefings. As Sanders began to deliver the press briefing more and more throughout the month of June, rumors began to swirl that Sanders would take over for Spicer permanently, especially after CNN, Politico and Bloomberg all reported that the White House was considering a communications shakeup.
The explanation that the White House gave for Sanders performing these duties instead of Spicer was that Spicer was becoming busier following the resignation of White House Communications Director Mike Dubke.
“I mean, he is taking on a little bit of extra duty at this point,” Sanders said of Spicer during a press briefing in June. “It’s probably upgraded at this point given that we don’t have a communications director.”
Not long after Sean Spicer resigned, it was announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders would hold an on-camera press briefing in the afternoon.
However, Politico reported last month that Sanders is not interested in the job of press secretary.
2. Laura Ingraham
GettyLaura Ingraham speaks at the Republican National Convention.
Another option would be conservative commentator Laura Ingraham.
In June, Politico reported that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus reached out to Ingraham about the position of press secretary. Sean Spicer himself reportedly had a conversation with her about the job as well.
After Politico’s report, Laura Ingraham said on Fox News that she would think about taking the job, though she’s not particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
“I’ve always said that if it’s something that I think I could do well, and it would really advance the agenda of this administration at a time where I think there’s so much at stake for the country and for the future, you know, I would think about it,” Ingraham said on Fox News. “I’m not sure if that’s the role I would pick for myself, but I have a legal background, strategic, you know, political communications planning. I’m not sure the press secretary thing is something I’m dying to do.”
Ingraham currently hosts The Laura Ingraham Show, a nationally syndicated conservative radio program. She has some previous political experience, having worked as speechwriter for the domestic policy advisor in the Ronald Reagan administration.
3. Geoff Morrell
Geoff Morrell smiles during a farewell press conference June 27, 2011, inside the Pentagon briefing room.
The Washington Post reported last month that another person the White House has considered for a role in the communications department is Geoff Morrell.
Morrell served as the Pentagon press secretary from 2007 to 2011. He actually has a background in journalism, getting started working at a local TV news station in Little Rock, Arkansas. He joined ABC News in 2000, serving as White House television correspondent.
Morrell resigned from his position at ABC News to become Pentagon press secretary in 2007. He left the position in 2011 at the same time that Robert Gates retired.
Since 2011, Morrell has worked as senior vice president of communications and external affairs for BP. Earlier this year, it was announced that he would be leaving the U.S. for London as part of his BP job, according to Politico. Still, The Washington Post’s reporting that Geoff Morrell has been considered for a role in the White House came after this announcement of his move to London.
4. Scott Reed
Scott Reed of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, The Washington Post reported in June that Scott Reed was approached by Trump officials regarding a position in the White House.
Reed is the senior political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber of Commerce’s website, he overseas the chamber’s federal voter education program.
“The Chamber’s goal in the 2014 elections was to elect pro-business candidates with the courage to govern,” his biography on the Chamber of Commerce’s website states. “Reed created and implemented the blueprint for that strategy, helping recruit business-friendly candidates, overseeing traditional and digital advertising campaigns, and identifying credible messengers to showcase the importance of the free enterprise system.”
In 1996, Reed was the campaign manager of Bob Dole’s presidential campaign. He formerly worked as the executive director of the Republican National Committee and as the chief of staff to Secretary Jack Kemp at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the George H.W. Bush administration.
He is also the founder of Chesapeake Enterprises, a Washington consulting firm. He continues to advise Republican governors and congressman.
5. More Than One Person, Including Anthony Scaramucci
GettyAnthony Scaramucci during a conference in Switzerland in January 2017.
It’s possible that Sean Spicer won’t be replaced by a single person, as The Washington Post reported in June that the White House had considered having multiple different people conduct the press briefings.
“At one point, the White House considered deploying a rotating cast of briefers, in part to prevent the president, who has a short attention span, from growing bored or angry with his press secretary,” The Washington Post reported. “And if Spicer ultimately steps away from the podium, it remains unclear whether the West Wing would fill the press secretary role with just one person.”
If that’s the case, it’s possible that one member of that rotating cast of briefers would be the new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, who has previously been known to defend Trump on TV.
“[T]he president believed Mr. Scaramucci, a ferocious defender of Mr. Trump’s on cable television, was best equipped to play the same role in-house, and he offered him a role with far-reaching powers independent of Mr. Priebus’s,” the New York Times reported today.