The increasingly invisible Sean Spicer finally resigns

Sean Spicer, the embattled and increasingly invisible White House press secretary, resigned on Friday morning shortly after the president offered Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci the job of White House communications director. The New York Times, which first reported Spicer’s resignation, writes that Spicer “vehemently disagreed” with Scaramucci’s appointment as his new boss, and that he quit in protest.

These developments appear to be the first steps in a long-promised communications shakeup at the White House, which has struggled to stay focused amid the unfolding Russia collusion story.

Scaramucci is a polarizing figure among the warring factions in Trump’s administration. According to Axios, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon opposed the appointment, while Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner supported it. As communications director, Scaramucci would be stepping into a position that has been vacant for several weeks since the resignation of Mike Dubke, a Spicer ally, in May.

One of Scaramucci’s first tasks, it seems, will be to search for a new White House press secretary. In his six months on the job, Sean Spicer developed a reputation as a fierce Trump defender, willing to sacrifice his own credibility in service of the president’s narratives. Spicer’s rocky relationship with the press became a hindrance, but what really seemed to diminish his stature at the White House were his series of gaffes that turned him into a talk-show punchline and internet meme.

Spicer’s departure had been gossiped about for months, with rumors that the president had considered promoting him to a position out of the heat of the cameras. In the meantime, Spicer has spent less and less time in the public eye. His deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders led most of the daily briefings with the White House press corps in recent weeks.