Gowdy trolls Trump budget chief over frequent White House turnover

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) teased Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday over the frequency of White House staff turnover after Mulvaney offered a gag birthday gift to Gowdy — a comb and razor to fix his hair.

The two poked at each other in a light-hearted Twitter exchange Tuesday afternoon. Mulvaney first tweeted happy birthday to Gowdy, who on Tuesday turned 53.

“What do you get for someone on his 60th birthday? A razor and a comb. Happy birthday,” Mulvaney tweeted alongside photos of Gowdy.

Gowdy tweeted in response a few hours later: “I’m just a couple of haircuts away from equaling the number of staff departures by your WH colleagues. I get it. You are hard to work with.”

What do you get for someone on his 60th birthday? A razor and a comb.
Happy birthday, @TGowdySC. pic.twitter.com/ZNWaPHZl7c

— Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaneyOMB) August 22, 2017

I’m just a couple of haircuts away from equaling the number of staff departures by your WH colleagues. I get it. You are hard to work with. https://t.co/sN0dg8ahrU

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) August 22, 2017

The two government officials, both from South Carolina, are friends and the tweets appeared to be all in good fun.

News of former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon’s departure from the White House broke Friday. It was the latest in a string of departures by White House staff.

Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, stepped down from his top White House role just 24 days after taking office early this year. More recently, President Trump’s former chief of staff Reince Priebus was ousted from the White House and short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci was appointed to the White House in July and left less than two weeks later.