Since Howell G. Crim, who ran the White House executive residence from 1938 up until 1957, the chief usher has stayed put long after the president who hired him leaves office. In the last 132 years only nine people have held the position. The continuance of this long tradition, and the White House residence staff’s singular exemption from partisanship, seemed to suffer grievous injury Friday when staffers learned that Chief Usher Angella Reid, hired by the Obamas in 2011—the first woman, and second African American, to hold the job—was reportedly asked to leave.

There are approximately 95 full-time employees on the residence staff, these are the chefs, maids, florists, butlers and ushers who tend to the 132-room mansion that is the most recognizable symbol of the presidency. The White House Usher’s Office is at the center of the finely tuned operation. The chief usher runs the show. He or she is responsible for overseeing the funds allocated by Congress to run the house. They hold the institutional knowledge about how events like the Easter egg roll and holiday parties have been held in the past. And they manage the staff. If there is a problem with the menu, with the décor, with anything in the house, the First Lady and the social secretary report it to the chief usher. When the Obamas wanted a play set installed steps form the Oval Office for their then-young daughters, it was Chief Usher Stephen Rochon, a retired rear admiral, who flew to the swing set company headquarters in South Dakota to pick it out.

Before the election, residence staffers worried about Donald Trump’s rhetoric, especially one of his key promises to “drain the swamp” and change business as usual in Washington. Nothing could be more steeped in history than the long tradition of service in the White House. And even though Melania Trump has not yet moved in—and President Trump is used to having staff at his beck and call (he has installed a small red button on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office to summon the butler to bring him a Diet Coke)—it seemed inevitable that Reid, who had been the manager of the Ritz-Carlton in suburban Washington before taking the job, would have to go at some point. She was loyal to the Obamas. Rochon served from 2007 to 2011, and was hired by President George W. Bush, but left abruptly two years into the Obama administration.

“The fact that there's been a series of changes over the last few years is a reflection of how society is changing and how that office is changing too,” Gary Walters, who was chief usher from 1986 to 2007, said Friday. Walters was brought back to the White House to help Reid during President Trump’s transition into the White House because Reid had never managed a complicated move-in before, according to a source familiar with the transition, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Staffers are not supposed to speak with reporters and could be fired for doing so. They serve at the pleasure of the president and now more than ever they are afraid to speak because this personnel change could be a harbinger of things to come.

The chief usher works with the First Lady and her social secretary as they plan events, host visitors, and make sure the family’s private sanctuary on the second and third floor meets their needs. There are several ushers who report to the chief usher and manage individual “shops,” such as housekeeping and the flowers. One former residence staffer describes the relationship between the residence staff and the president and the First Lady like a pendulum. At the very beginning, the first couple rely on their institutional expertise and years of experience; after the first several months that dependency grows less and less important.