President-elect Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE – In this Oct. 18, 2016, file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addresses a gathering at a public forum in New Providence, N.J. Christie maintains that he has no recollection of any of his aides telling him about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. Christie said in an interview on “CBS This Morning” that the Friday, Nov. 4, guilty verdicts against two former aides confirms his belief that only three people were responsible. Bridget Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, an executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were convicted of scheming with former Christie ally David Wildstein to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing him when he ran for re-election in 2013. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump is shaking up his transition team as he plunges into the work of setting up his administration, elevating Vice President-elect Mike Pence to head the operations. It amounts to a demotion for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had been running Trump’s transition planning for months.
On the heels of Trump’s upset victory this week, the Republican’s team has been scrambling to identify people for top White House jobs and Cabinet posts. It’s an enormous undertaking that must be well in hand by the time Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
In a statement Friday, Trump said Pence would “build on the initial work” done by Christie.
“Together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding this nation – specifically jobs, security and opportunity,” Trump said.
Christie was a loyal adviser to Trump for much of the campaign and came close to being the businessman’s pick for running mate. But Trump ultimately went with Indiana Gov. Pence, a former congressman with Washington experience and deep ties to conservatives.