Passed Over Again - Updated

Donald just announced that he is nominating William Barr to be the next Attorney General, meaning that once again poor Chris Christie wasn't selected. On November 8, when Christie's name briefly bubbled to the surface as a candidate for the job, I wrote this:

Jared [Kushner] didn't want Christie as the VP nominee and I've also seen reporting that claims Jared was behind Christie's dismissal as head of the transition team, once it became clear that there really was going to be a transition. In spite of the happy talk coming from the White House, insisting that Jared and Chris work well together and get along just fine, I'd bet that Jared still hates Chris Christie with the fury of God's own thunder. (Hat tip: Aaron Sorkin.) I just can't see Chris Christie being welcomed into the Trump White House as long as Jared is still there.

I briefly considered the possibility that Christie had earned Jared's forgiveness for putting Kushner's father in jail...

Is it possible that Christie has sufficiently abased himself to earn Jared's forgiveness? Maybe, but imagine the scene: Big, loud, in-your-face New Jersey tough guy Chris Christie, slobbering all over slender, baby-faced born-on-third-base-thinks-he-hit-a-triple presidential son-in-law Jared... The mind reels.

Even if Christie eventually gets the job, things are still pretty humiliating for him. On top of having to suck up to Jared Kushner, he'll have to live with a narrative that says he only got the job because no one else wanted it. The Politico article referred to above is headlined "Sessions' job is hard to fill. Enter Chris Christie." Yikes.

... but it looks like nothing has changed. No White House gig for Chris Christie. (Read the entire post here.)

Update on Monday morning. Chris Christie for Chief of Staff? The president needs a new one and apparently he's having trouble finding anyone who's willing to work for him. (A chyron on CNN this morning said "Rep Meadows on WH Chief of Staff job: Absolutely not.") The VP's COS was believed to be the top candidate but he turned it down and now some others are too, including Budget Director Mick Mulvaney:

NEW: A source close to Mulvaney tells me he is no longer interested in COS job, Mnuchin and Lighthizer sending out same signals.... list of potential replacements for Kelly shrinking by the hour.

— Nancy Cook (@nancook) December 10, 2018

Is Christie's name on the list? Maybe, although it's possible that at this point even he isn't interested in working for this White House. If he does get the job, he'll still be stuck with the "no one else wants it" narrative:

The bottom line is: There is no clear frontrunner to become the next White House COS -- and no one really seems to want the job, having seen the end result for Reince Priebus and Gen. John Kelly.

— Nancy Cook (@nancook) December 10, 2018

Politico explains why no one in their right mind wants the job:

“This White House is headed into a world of trouble — a Democratic Congress, Mueller closing in, and anybody who comes into this White House has to be thinking about lawyering up. Worst case scenario you could become H.R. Haldeman,” [The Gatekeepers author Chris] Whipple added, referring to the chief-of-staff to President Richard Nixon who ended up serving 18 months behind bars. (Read the story here.)

Update #2 on Tuesday morning. The Washington Post has a long story outlining Donald's difficulties in finding a Chief of Staff and reviewing several possible candidates. The article includes this: 

Although aides said the president is committed to finding a replacement for [outgoing Chief of Staff John] Kelly before the Christmas holiday, they said he has been vacillating — casting about in all corners for potential picks and frustrated by news coverage depicting his White House as a place where talented people do not want to work.

...and this, and remember that the Chief of Staff would, at least on paper, be Jared's boss: 

[Chris] Christie’s allies said they do not expect him to be offered the job as long as Kushner remains a top White House staffer, describing their relationship as largely repaired from its past tensions but still not strong enough to enable Christie to fully enter the Trump orbit. Nevertheless, Christie boosters continue to urge Trump to consider him, citing his governing experience and political acumen. (Read the article here.)