White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday he will be leaving U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration soon, ending a brief return to government to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hassett, who served as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the first two years of Trump’s term before stepping down, returned to the administration for a temporary stint earlier this year.
“I came in unpaid for 90 days. Time is about up,” Hassett told Reuters in an email.
Another White House official said Hassett had come for a “temporary gig as a special government employee. No other reason for departure.”
In the early days of the outbreak, Hassett brought attention to the massive economic fallout expected from the coronavirus, painting a more dire picture of the likely repercussions than other White House aides were doing at the time.