RNC chief of staff to depart role

Republican National Committee (RNC) chief of staff Richard Walters is stepping down from his post later this week. 

Walters told staffers the news on Monday. He will be replaced by RNC veteran Mike Reed, who became deputy chief of staff in 2020. 

The departure was widely expected. Walters joined the committee in 2013 as a finance officer and became chief of staff in 2017. 

Walters will not be leaving the RNC entirely and will instead work as a senior adviser to the committee’s chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel. Walters will continue to be a full-time employee at the committee. 

“The Republican Party, our committee members, our staff, and I personally owe Richard an enormous debt of gratitude. Richard has done an incredible job of strengthening and building our party, from record-breaking fundraising to our cutting-edge data operation and everything in between,” McDaniel said in a statement. “I am thrilled that after nearly five years as chief of staff, Richard is staying on the team to oversee the long-term planning of the RNC, while Mike Reed will serve as the new chief of staff to help implement the party’s strategy for victory in November.”

The news comes as the committee prepares to kick off its annual winter meeting on Wednesday. The meeting wraps on Friday, which is when Walters’s departure as chief of staff will be effective. 

The committee made news earlier this month after it informed the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) that it plans to require that GOP presidential nominees not attend debates run by the CPD going forward. McDaniel said the committee would amend its rules at the winter meeting to prohibit candidates from taking part in the forum.