The White House chief of staff position has officially entered its "we'll figure it out as a team" era, and honestly, it's giving group project vibes where nobody wants to be the one who presents.
According to reports bouncing around Washington like a screensaver from 2004, the administration is considering a more "collaborative" approach to the role — meaning the famously brutal, 24/7, soul-crushing job of running the building might get split among several people.
Because nothing says "smooth operation" like a committee running the most powerful office on Earth.
For the uninitiated, the chief of staff is basically the president's air traffic controller.
They decide who gets in the room, what hits the desk, and which staffers get to keep their security badges.
It's the job that ages people like a cheese left in a hot car.
Think Rahm Emanuel, who once reportedly sent a dead fish to a pollster.
Think Denis McDonough, who survived Obama's whole second term.
That level of "fun." Now imagine that role getting divvied up like a fantasy football roster.
A third handles the chaos that erupts every time someone tweets.
Critics are already dunking on the idea, calling it a recipe for "decision by committee" in a building where decisions need to happen in roughly the time it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket.
Defenders say it distributes the workload and prevents burnout.
Which is sweet, in the same way a participation trophy is sweet.
Of course, this isn't the first time the White House has experimented with a "team of rivals" or a "spokesperson rotation" or whatever buzzword consultants are pitching this fiscal quarter.
Remember when they tried having multiple press secretaries?
That went about as smoothly as a group chat planning a wedding.
The real question is who actually ends up holding the bag when things go sideways.
In a normal White House, the chief of staff takes the blame so the president doesn't have to.
In a collaborative model, does everyone point at each other like the Spider-Man meme?
Meanwhile, the rest of us are over here just trying to figure out if this is a bold management innovation or the professional equivalent of putting four people on aux at the same party.
History suggests it's usually the latter.
Bottom line: the most demanding job in American politics is apparently now accepting applications from multiples.
Final Thoughts
Bring snacks, agree on a leader, and maybe set up a shared calendar.