Kellyanne Conway, Senior White House counsellor, will depart her position in the Trump administration at the end of the month to focus on family matters, she said in a statement late Sunday.
“This is completely my choice and my voice,” Conway said. “In time, I will announce future plans. For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.”
Conway has been a close adviser to the president dating back to the 2016 campaign. She was the first woman to manage a victorious presidential campaign after she took the reins late in the 2016 cycle, and she has served in her White House role since the beginning of the administration.
The Washington Post first broke Conway’s planned exit.
Conway’s husband, George, separately wrote on Twitter that he would be leaving his role with the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, for similar reasons.
The conflict between the Conways — he an outspoken Trump critic and she one of his most ardent and visible defenders — has prompted social media speculation about their marriage, with President Trump even lambasting George as a “loser.” Their daughter, Claudia, also gained social media notoriety in recent weeks for TikTok and Twitter posts swiping at the president and referencing the clashing views of her parents.
“We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids,” Kellyanne Conway said in her statement. “Our four children are teens and ‘tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months. As millions of parents nationwide know, kids ‘doing school from home’ requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times.”
Conway called her time in the White House “heady” and “humbling.” She thanked Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence, and offered praise for their work during the administration’s first term.
Conway is expected to speak this week at the Republican National Convention.
In addition to being one of Trump’s longest tenured advisers in a White House known for staffing changes, Conway also established herself as one of his most visible aides.
Her regular television appearances exasperated ethics watchdogs, frustrated administration critics and pleased administration officials who viewed her as an effective messenger. Conway also frequently took questions from reporters, including during a year-long stretch where the White House did not hold any press briefings.
Conway defended Trump through some of his most controversial and difficult moments, and she was often criticized for muddying the truth or offering misleading answers in interviews. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Conway defended then-press secretary Sean Spicer’s inaccurate declaration about the crowd size by saying he was providing “alternative facts.” The phrase later topped a year-end list of notable quotes.
Conway was also one of the most egregious violators of the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch officials from using their official positions for campaigning. The Office of Special Counsel last year recommended Trump fire Conway for repeated violations of the act, citing her comments on a 2017 special U.S. Senate election in Alabama and the 2020 presidential elections.
Conway denied wrongdoing and later defied a congressional subpoena to testify about the issue.