Who is set to replace White House counsel Don McGahn?

Mr McGahn had been expected to finish the year at the White House

White House Counsel Don McGahn (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

White House counsel Don McGahn has officially left his position in Donald Trump's administration.

Attorney Pat Cippolone will take over the position in “a couple of weeks” according to reports. Attorney Emmett Flood will take over as Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President, effective immediately. Mr Flood served as special counsel in the George W. Bush administration as well.

Trump had originally appointed Mr McGahn in 2016 after Mr McGahn served in the Trump campaign as general counsel. Mr McGahn introduced Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the president and supported Mr Kavanaugh through his confirmation hearings.

However, Mr McGahn and Trump did not always see eye to eye. Mr McGahn had been cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the 2016 presidential election, voluntarily giving 30 hours of testimony, prompting a series of angry tweets from the president.

In August, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr McGahn would be leaving in the fall. The Washington Post reported that Mr McGahn was not aware of this decision before Mr Trump sent the tweet.

Staffers leaving, quitting or being fired is not rare in the Trump administration. In March, Politifact reported that 43 per cent of Trump’s most senior staffers had quit, switched roles or been forced out. The previous record for highest White House senior staff turnover was during administration of Ronald Reagan, with 17 per cent turnover.

President Trump recently announced that Mr McGahn would leave after Mr Kavanaugh had been confirmed, although it was expected to see out to the end of the year. Turns out that is not the case.