Sean Spicer has been floating around the White House since he announced his resignation almost two weeks ago, dipping in and out of his office, attending meetings on tax reform and popping up for public ceremonies like retired Gen. John Kelly’s swearing in as chief of staff and a medal of honor ceremony for a Vietnam veteran.

On Tuesday night, Spicer was seen giving his family a tour of the White House grounds. He’s posted nostalgic pictures on Instagram, like one of the first family taking off from the lawn on Marine One, with the caption: “This will never get old.”


President Donald Trump’s beleaguered press secretary resigned July 21 rather than work for Anthony Scaramucci, whose tenure as communications director came to an abrupt end on Monday, 11 days after his appointment was announced. Scaramucci was let go by former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kelly, who Trump announced last week would replace Reince Priebus as chief of staff.

Scaramucci’s exit was a vindication of sorts for Spicer, who previously worked for Priebus at the Republican National Committee. Spicer achieved infamy, with Melissa McCarthy playing him as a recurring character on “Saturday Night Live,” but struggled to establish himself with the president and his family, who have grown increasingly dim on longtime Republican operatives brought into the West Wing from the RNC.

In the wake of Scaramucci’s departure, Spicer — who committed to staying several weeks to ensure an orderly transition in the press office — briefly considered staying on at the White House to help with Trump’s effort to pass major tax reform, a policy issue that Spicer had engaged with since stepping back from regular briefings in the past month. But he made it clear to his colleagues by late afternoon on Tuesday that he does not plan to stay on in the White House beyond August.

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“Nothing has changed,” Spicer’s successor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters during Wednesday’s briefing.

Aides who once reported to him say that they’re not exactly sure what he’s doing all day. And while Spicer will be without an office during the renovation of the West Wing, he doesn’t plan on joining the president at his golf course in New Jersey, where he’s slated to stay from Aug. 3 to Aug. 20 while work is being done.

The day after he announced his resignation, Spicer was seen in New York City meeting with executives from various television networks, where the possibility of him becoming a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars" was broached. He’s also met with talent agencies. One senior talent rep said that book divisions were more interested in Spicer than television divisions.

When asked last week about his use of government time to scout opportunities, Spicer told reporters: “There’s no such thing as vacations. It’s a 24-7 job; I don’t accrue vacation,” he said.

Spicer emphasized that his conversations so far have been preliminary. Under federal law, senior government officials must file notice when opening employment negotiations and pledge to recuse themselves from anything that would affect the financial interests of their prospective employers.

The Office of Government Ethics also encourages senior West Wing staff to file notice to the White House counsel when they begin seeking employment to prevent conflicts.

Spicer and Sanders did not respond to questions about whether Spicer has flagged his meetings or obtained an ethics waiver. An OGE spokesperson declined to comment.

"If [the networks] broach the topic of him coming to work for them, then he's seeking employment and the recusal under the standards of conduct kicks in,” said former OGE director Walter Shaub, who has criticized the Trump administration’s ethics program since his departure from OGE last month.

“If you’re making decisions about access or potentially giving an exclusive [to a news organization], then you could be affecting their financial interests, which could trigger a conflict of interest,” Shaub added.

As Spicer has been preparing to exit, Sanders has been in the process of organizing a team that was rattled by the hard-charging ways of Scaramucci, who threatened to fire many current staffers, who he suspected of talking anonymously to reporters. In a telephone conversation with New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza, Scaramucci said: “What I want to do is, I want to f------ kill all the leakers.”

“People were scared to go to work,” one aide said of Scaramucci’s short tenure.

Many aides caught wind of a list of former RNC staffers who were slated to be fired by Scaramucci within two weeks, even though he offered “amnesty.”

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer waves to members of the media outside the West Wing of the White House on July 29. | Andrew Harnik/AP

Former senior assistant press secretary Michael Short was the only staffer to depart under Scaramucci’s brief reign, but it was expected that former RNC staffers in the press shop like deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters and deputy director of communications Raj Shah would also be let go, particularly after Priebus’ ouster on Friday.

Their positions appear to be safe under Sanders, who has the respect and loyalty of the team, according to two White House officials.

Jockeying for the communications post has already begun. Deputy special assistant Sebastian Gorka has been floated as a possible internal candidate, because of the president’s affection for his one-liners on TV, like the assertion that Nick at Night gets more viewers than CNN.

Senior counselor Kellyanne Conway has also been floated as a possible successor, since communications already falls within her portfolio, but aides cautioned that the next communications director will likely be picked by Kelly.

Kelly’s former colleague David Lapan’s name has been among those floated. Lapan told POLITICO he has not been contacted by anyone in the White House about the job but if asked by Kelly, who enlisted him to join his staff at DHS, he would seriously consider it.

A career public affairs officer, Lapan spent decades working with reporters, including in Iraq and Afghanistan and as the chief spokesman for the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. He gained a reputation among the Pentagon press corps as a knowledgeable and honest broker and a stickler for the truth.

While a no-drama professional, Lapan is not without a dramatic résumé that could endear him to a president enamored with Hollywood: While serving as a Marine Corps reservist in the 1990s, Lapan was an actor for a time, and he played a small role in the hit film "Pretty Woman."

Bryan Bender contributed to this report.