Former congressman Mike Rogers announced in a statement Tuesday he parted ways with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, removing an establishment national security voice from the planning process of the next president’s Cabinet.
Rogers positively described his time period working with the transition team as a “privilege,” in a statement to reporters, and said he was handing off his responsibilities as a national security adviser to the transition organization to incoming Vice President Mike Pence and “the stellar new leadership team.”
“I look forward to continuing to provide advice and counsel as needed to the incoming Trump administration as they work to make America great again,” Rogers said in the statement.
The news of Rogers’ departure was first reported by Bloomberg.
Rogers’ participation in the transition team was seen as a heartening sign for traditional GOP national security advisers.
Sources tied to the transition team talking to CNN described the organization’s internal disagreements — mainly divided along the lines of establishment Republican operatives against more non-traditional influences on national security issues — as a “knife fight” on Monday.