* I withheld staff names in my subscriber post, but Greg posted ‘em and I think everybody’s OK with it now, so here’s his piece…

The purge within Gov. Bruce Rauner’s government continues today. Even as the governor was touring flood plagued Lake County—a little late, in the opinion of some—most of what left of his policy staff was being axed or hitting the road before they could be canned. Here’s who’s out, according to multiple reliable sources: • Corrections and criminal justice adviser Jennifer Grady-Paswater; • Jason Heffley, who handled environment and energy and helped cut the recent Exelon nuclear funding deal; • Brian Oszakiewski who came from the staff of U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, and who handled transportation; • Daniel Suess, who made policy recs for smaller state agencies. Says one Rauner insider with a bird’s eye view of all of this: “The IPI (Illinois Policy Institute) folks have fully taken over. This government is going to be a petri dish for them for the next year and a half,” until Rauner’s term is up.

Brian O turned in his resignation earlier today. He walked out on his own and isn’t looking back. The other dismissals reportedly came after the governor finished his Lake County photo op.

Heffley is a huge talent, by the way. And he has a family.

…Adding… From a Jennifer Grady-Paswater friend…

She had a great gig at ISP and was really respected but left it to help Rauner with his criminal agenda. Without her help, many of the reform bills wouldn’t have moved. It’s a real shame.

That’s the thing that grates about this purge. These folks aren’t being fired because they’re incompetent. They’re all talented folks. They’re being shoved aside because they don’t align with the “new ideology.” And, in the past, including in this administration, when people were moved out of the governor’s office a spot was found for them in an agency, or on the campaign or whatever. Not under the new regime. They’re being dumped into the cold.

…Adding More… Sneed…

“This is a clear signal John Tillman, the CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, has a firm grip on the new regime in the Rauner administrative,” a top Sneed source said.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Rauner spokesperson Eleni Demertzis has just resigned. Unlike some of the others, Eleni walked out on her own terms.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Allie Bovis, who oversees agency communications and was the traveling press secretary today for the governor’s trip to Lake County, has submitted her resignation effective next Friday. She’s also leaving on her own terms.

Both Demertzis and Bovis will hopefully be fine. They are top notch and should be able to get private sector gigs rather quickly.