Ronna McDaniel Announces Resignation as Republican National Committee Chair

Ronna McDaniel announced Monday that she will step down as chair of the Republican National Committee next week, after seven years in the role.

She plans to leave on March 8, just three days after Super Tuesday.

"I have decided to step aside at our spring training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a chair of their choosing," McDaniel said in a statement. "The R.N.C. has historically undergone change once we have a nominee, and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.

"I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November."

McDaniel's resignation was first reported by The New York Times.

McDaniel, 50, took the position at the urging of Donald Trump, shortly after his election as president in 2016. She was a strong advocate for Trump and helped reshape the GOP in his image. But Trump’s MAGA movement increasingly blamed her for his 2020 loss and the party’s failures to meet expectations in races the last two years.

Trump, who appears certain to lock the GOP nomination for the job this year, has been pushing for her replacement, publicly backing North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley for the job, along with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as the next co-chair.

The former president also promoted Chris LaCivita to assume the role of the RNC’s chief operating officer.

"This group of three is highly talented, battle-tested, and smart. They have my complete and total endorsement to lead the Republican National Committee," Trump said in a Feb. 12 statement.

Trump predicted the RNC shakeup would come following the South Carolina GOP primary election, which he won Saturday, ABC News reported.

McDaniel, the first woman to chair the RNC, had been the chair of the Republican Party in Michigan before becoming the national committee leader in 2017.

The niece of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, McDaniel was elected overwhelmingly to a record fourth term just last year.

Trump cannot make leadership changes without the formal backing of the RNC’s 168-member governing body, but that approval is highly likely, given his status as the party’s likely presidential nominee and his popularity with party activists.

McDaniel was the committee’s longest-serving leader since the Civil War.

Some of Trump's allies criticized McDaniel for not canceling the current cycle's Republican debates.

However, she also has been praised by people such Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., the chair of the Senate Republican campaign arm, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., the chair of the House Republican campaign arm, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy called McDaniel a "strong leader" and said she was "instrumental in helping us win back the House majority" after losing it in 2018, the Times reported.

"Her leadership in the party helped expand the electoral map and supported candidates that are now rising stars," McCarthy said.