Chris Christie has stood at Donald Trump’s side for more than six months, fiercely defending the Republican nominee and running Trump's presidential transition team — with an eye on his own future.

But behind the scenes, there’s an insurrection-in-the-making among powerful conservative groups in Washington that are skeptical of Christie’s leadership and want to exert influence over the process of filling roughly 4,000 jobs as part of a new administration, to say nothing of top White House slots and judgeships.


“Conservatives are very nervous about Chris Christie,” said the leader of one conservative activist group, who declined to go on record for fear of antagonizing Trump. “For his judicial nominees as the New Jersey governor, he appointed a bunch of liberals, or he treated the nominations like political payoff positions. It is the type of approach that would be devastating for Trump to have Christie, as attorney general, picking judges or applying the same approach to fill key regulatory positions in the EPA or Treasury Department.”

Christie himself has a lot at stake personally, with many seeing his leadership of the transition team as a testing ground for a future role in a Trump administration, potentially as attorney general. He and his top lieutenants have taken pains to involve different wings of the Republican party in the effort, including conservative activists.

But one person on the Trump transition told POLITICO that there is simmering tension between the team's conservative and moderate Republicans, who have vastly different visions for a future Trump White House. The 100-person-strong Trump transition includes former Mitt Romney aides and George W. Bush administration alums, alongside influential and outspoken right-wingers at The Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council.

“There is already tension between some of the more conservative people who are trying to influence the process and what would be considered more establishment-type folks,” the person said. “It could come to a head, but it hasn’t got there yet.”

Other conservative activists say they feel best about Christie’s leadership of the transition team when he’s surrounded by conservatives, such as Becky Norton Dunlop and Ed Feulner of The Heritage Foundation.

“Looking at the totality of the transition team, I am comfortable,” another leader of a conservative activist group said. Neither Dunlop nor Feulner responded to requests for comment.

The Heritage Foundation is an increasingly influential force on Trump’s transition. In addition to Feulner and Dunlop, several other Republicans with ties to the group are working on the transition team, including former Ronald Reagan attorney general Ed Meese, economist Paul Winfree and former George W. Bush Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James, sources told POLITICO. Other conservative voices on the transition team include former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council who sits on the board of the National Rifle Association. None of the officials responded to requests for comment. The Trump campaign has barred members of the transition team from talking to the news media.

Meanwhile, Christie has personal baggage that could hurt his prospects of winning a coveted spot in a Trump administration. Recent reports that Christie was allegedly aware of the so-called Bridgegate scandal, a 2013 plot to close local access lanes on the George Washington Bridge, raised some eyebrows in Trump's inner circle and among members of the nominee's transition team.

But so far, Trump has shown no signs of distancing himself from Christie. In fact, Trump is increasingly leaning on his one-time rival as he prepares to take on Hillary Clinton at Sunday's town hall debate.

Those close to Christie and Trump said the two Republicans have bonded in recent months, although their relationship goes back nearly 15 years because Trump’s business dealings in Atlantic City ensured they traveled in overlapping circles. Reservations about Christie persist among some in Trump’s inner circle, including with son-in-law Jared Kushner Because, as U.S. Attorney, Christie successfully prosecuted Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion and witness tampering. But sources said Trump values Christie’s loyalty. Trump has been reluctant to cut ties with those who have won his trust, resisting for months calls to fire former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

One Republican who has talked to both men put it like this: “Trump is a Northeasterner. He likes Christie and [Rudy] Giuliani. They talk like him. It’s a cultural thing.”

Neither the Trump campaign, nor a Christie spokesman responded to requests for comment on the tension with conservatives, Bridgegate or the Trump-Christie relationship. Christie has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in the Bridgegate incident.

As far as Bridgegate is concerned, there’s a general sense in Trump world that Christie can survive the courtroom drama unfolding in New Jersey, barring any devastating revelations. “His scandal in relation to both candidates' current issues is a walk in the park,” one Republican said. “As far as scandals go, Christie’s looks the least damaging.”

People close to the campaign say they haven’t settled on picks for top Cabinet jobs.

“Donald Trump has certainly seen Gov. Christie in action. I’m certain he recognizes what an enormous talent Gov. Christie is,” said former Rep. Michael Ferguson (R-N.J.), who served on Christie's transition team after he was elected governor. “I don’t think anybody is putting the cart before the horse at this point.”

Some Republicans on the Hill were already skeptical of Christie’s chances to join a potential Trump administration before the obstacles posed by Bridgegate or the new spate of conservative criticism.

“You don’t hear Republicans discussing this issue with any level of concern, primarily because they don’t find themselves concerned with Chris Christie,” said an aide to a Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee, which would consider nominations for attorney general. “He has been loyal to no one except himself, and so the appeal of plotting any future that involves working with Christie is nonexistent.”

Still, the aide said the Bridgegate revelations won’t necessarily pose a new barrier to confirmation for an administration post. “It’ll be considered on the merits,” the aide said.

Democrats would likely strongly oppose Christie’s nomination, though they would need to walk a fine line in blocking a vote in the Senate because they’ve spent months railing against Republicans for slow-walking key Obama nominees.

“Somebody like him who has such a long paper trail — it would be a very thorough vetting,” one Senate Democratic aide said.

Spokespeople for Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the panel’s ranking member, declined to comment on the prospect of a Christie nomination as attorney general or any other post.

While Christie is leading Trump’s transition team, the day-to-day operations fall largely to his deputies, including two of his close confidants, Rich Bagger and William Palatucci. Christie makes regular trips to Washington to brief lobbyists and other top GOP officials about the transition’s progress and to press them to donate to a 501(c)(4) group called Trump for America, Inc., which helps fund the transition team’s work.

Asked how Bridgegate would affect the Trump transition team, Clay Johnson, the head of George W. Bush’s transition team, told reporters at a recent even:, “Gov. Christie is the chairman of the transition, but the person driving all of the work is Rich Bagger.”

When pressed after the event about how Christie’s legal problems could hurt the Trump transition team, Johnson declined further comment. “I don’t know," he said. "I don’t want to speculate."

Sarah Wheaton and Daniel Strauss contributed to this report.