Donald Trump has dropped Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, as the head of his White House transition team, replacing him with vice-president Mike Pence.

The president-elect also took the unprecedented step of naming three of his own children and his son-in-law to the executive committee overseeing the transition.

The shake-up comes with Christie facing calls for impeachment in New Jersey after the conviction of two former aides in the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal. He has denied any advanced knowledge of the politically motivated lane closures, which caused chaos on the world’s busiest bridge.

The demotion is another bitter disappointment for the governor, who was overlooked as Trump’s running mate in favour of Pence, a former congressman with Washington know-how and strong ties to conservatives.

Christie battled Trump in the Republican primary race but was among the first to endorse him after dropping out. He had been running Trump’s transition planning for months, but the two reportedly grew apart in the last phase.

Christie was among those on stage for Trump’s acceptance speech at a New York hotel in the early hours of Wednesday morning following his shock election victory. However, the celebrity businessman said only, “Governor Chris Christie, folks, was unbelievable,” before moving on.

In a statement on Friday, Trump said Indiana governor Pence would “build on the initial work” done by Christie. “Together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding this nation, specifically jobs, security and opportunity,” the president-elect said.

In his first interview since the election, Trump said he will consider leaving in place some parts of the Affordable Care Act, including provisions allowing parents to keep older children on their insurance and prohibiting insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing condition. “I like those very much,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal.

He said a major reason for his change of tune – during the campaign he insisted that Obamacare would be scrapped – was his meeting on Thursday with the president, who suggested areas of his signature legislation to preserve. “I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that,” Trump told the Journal. “Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced.”



Trump said other urgent priorities for his administration would be deregulating financial institutions to allow “banks to lend again”, and securing the border against drugs and undocumented immigrants.



Facing street protests following a uniquely nasty election campaign, Trump called for harmony. “I want a country that loves each other. I want to stress that.” But when asked if his rhetoric had gone too far, he replied: “No. I won.”

Christie will still be involved in the transition, joining a group of Trump loyalists as vice-chairs: former House speaker Newt Gingrich, retired neurosurgeon and former candidate Ben Carson, retired Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama senator Jeff Sessions.

Christie said: “I am proud to have run the pre-election phase of the transition team along with a thoroughly professional and dedicated team of people.



“As we now enter the post-election phase, I look forward to working with vice-president-elect Pence and the rest of the leadership team to implement that template as we prepare for January 20, 2017.”

In addition, Rick Dearborn, chief of staff to Sessions, will take over day-to-day running of the transition office, supplanting senior Christie aide Rich Bagger, the New York Times reported.

Three of Trump’s children – Don Jr, Eric and Ivanka – are on the transition executive committee, along with Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband. Kushner was spotted at the White House on Thursday meeting with Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough.

The committee also includes controversial Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Republican national committee chairperson Reince Priebus and Trump campaign chief executive Stephen Bannon, executive chairperson of the conservative website Breitbart News.

Pence said the transition staff is made up of the right people to “bring about fundamental change in Washington”. Christie’s hopes of landing the job of attorney general appear to be receding, potentially opening the way for Giuliani.

On Thursday, New Jersey senate majority leader Loretta Weinberg called on assembly speaker Vincent Prieto to consider impeaching Christie, claiming there was “considerable testimony” during trial that he knew in advance about the lane-closing conspiracy on the George Washington bridge in September 2013. Christie spokesman Brian Murray dismissed the call as “ridiculous”.

The Trump’s transition team has launched a website that also conspicuously promotes the Trump brand, reflecting concerns over the blurring of his business and political interests.