“I’m disappointed in myself for leaving, but it was a killer, I mean, no joke.”

— Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, quoted by the Morristown Daily Record, on working for President Trump.

“The former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, on Wednesday declined to answer questions about the existence of a memo he wrote saying that President Trump had ordered officials to give his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a security clearance in May 2018,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Kelly also broke with Mr. Trump on key aspects of his approach to immigration and the NATO alliance, and said that his top concern about decisions made by the president was whether they were objectively right for the country when divorced from political concerns.”

President Trump confirmed that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly “will leave by the end of the year, capping the retired Marine general’s rocky tenure as the president’s top aide,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump had previously said Kelly would serve as his chief of staff through 2020, but their clashes were an open secret. Nick Ayers, who currently serves as Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, is widely expected to be Kelly’s replacement.”

“White House chief of staff John Kelly was interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in recent months,” CNN reports.

“Kelly responded to a narrow set of questions from special counsel investigators after White House lawyers initially objected to Mueller’s request to do the interview earlier this summer.”

“Kelly is the latest high-ranking White House official known to provide information for Mueller’s investigation, though his interview marks a departure of sorts since Kelly didn’t join the White House until July 2017. Most of the dozens of other interviews have been with people who were associated with the Trump campaign, were part of the transition or served in the early part of the administration.”

“John Kelly is expected to resign as White House chief of staff in the coming days,” CNN reports.

“Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years, the two have stopped speaking in recent days.”

New York Times: “Mr. Kelly and Mr. Trump have grown weary with each other. But Mr. Trump, according to several senior administration officials and people close to him, has so far been unable to bring himself to personally fire a retired four-star military general.”

Daily Beast: “He was a stately general called in to replace the omnishambles with order. But since his first day as White House chief of staff, John Kelly’s grasp on power in Trumpworld has been tenuous.”

“Now, as Trump enters the back end of his first term in office, determined to shake up his team at the senior ranks and facing a Democratic-run House, Kelly’s grasp has been exposed as flimsier than ever. With the president mangling an overseas trip and infighting among White House staff nearing Civil War-like levels, the chief of staff appears to be more of a bystander to the chaos than a manager of it. No one, at this juncture, is particularly surprised.”

“White House chief of staff John Kelly told staff on Monday that President Trump had asked him to remain in his post through the 2020 election, White House officials said, a request that comes as tensions between the two men have eased in recent months,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Mr. Kelly told staff he agreed to the president’s request.”

Playbook: “There’s still a decent amount of doubt in the White House that Kelly will last any more than a few months. But it’s all a guessing game!”

Politico: “A year into the job, Kelly’s attempts to implement traditional processes in an untraditional White House have failed, according to a dozen people in and outside the administration — though virtually all concede the West Wing runs better than it used to. Kelly’s allies say he took the job out of a sense of duty, and he has suggested he doesn’t enjoy it much. … Early mornings in the office have been supplanted by sweat sessions at the gym.”

“Many of Trump’s friends and advisers have concluded the president doesn’t really want a chief of staff — and he has several confidants urging him to operate without one. But for this president, keeping Kelly around offers the best of both worlds: somebody to blame when things go awry but nobody fettering his freedom of action.”

CNN: “It’s not clear how Kelly’s eventual departure — whether it comes in a matter of days, weeks, or months — might affect the structure he sought to impose. In recent weeks, Trump has told confidants he misses the chaos of the early days of his administration, which mirrored his style as a real estate impresario with its large cast of advisers and competing internal factions.”

“Still, Trump has looked to two experienced political hands as possible Kelly successors, polling friends and advisers about the possibility of tapping Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney or Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers to take the reins. Mulvaney, whose sharp wit has impressed Trump, is seen as the strongest candidate, three sources inside the West Wing told CNN, though Trump has remarked that he likes Ayers’ hair.”

“Yet there remains no obvious successor for Kelly, which is why many believe Trump has not replaced him yet.”

Politico: “According to four people close to Kelly, the former Marine general has largely yielded his role as the enforcer in the West Wing as his relationship with Trump has soured. While Kelly himself once believed he stood between Trump and chaos, he has told at least one person close to him that he may as well let the president do what he wants, even if it leads to impeachment — at least this chapter of American history would come to a close.”

“A miserable place to work.”

— White House chief of staff John Kelly, quoted by the New York Times, telling senators what it’s like to work in the White House.