text: In a resignation letter, Sebastian Gorka cited "forces" that do not support President Trump's "MAGA promise" as being ascendant in the White House. White House aide Sebastian Gorka ousted from post 
   
   Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president who was closely aligned with former chief strategist Steve Bannon, was ousted from the White House, officials said Friday. 
   
   In a resignation letter, published Friday night by The Federalist and confirmed by POLITICO, Gorka cited “forces” that do not support President Donald Trump’s “MAGA promise” as those that drove him out of the White House. 
   
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   But a White House official indicated in a statement that Gorka had been forced out: "Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House," the official said. 
   
   In the resignation letter, Gorka wrote: “Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again,’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months,” Gorka wrote. 
   
   A second White House aide said Gorka's departure was a continuation of new White House chief of staff John Kelly's effort to shape president's staff. "Questions remain," the aide said, about whether Sebastian Gorka's wife, Katie Gorka, an official at the Department of Homeland Security, would stay on after her husband's White House departure. 
   
   Gorka's departure came one week to the day after Bannon was fired from his White House position. 
   
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   The latest high-profile resignation from the populist faction of Trump’s ideologically divided West Wing erupted over a major policy disagreement about Afghanistan. Gorka, a White House official said, disagreed with Trump’s decision to dispatch more American troops to Afghanistan, a tortured decision the president outlined in his first national security address, on Tuesday night. 
   
   In his resignation letter, Gorka wrote that “the fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost.” 
   
   The news of Gorka’s departure was greeted with resignation by Trump loyalists, who believe the president has handed over too much power to military officers and former generals — including his new chief of staff, John Kelly, and national security adviser H.R. McMaster — and is losing any connection to the base that elected him. 
   
   “I guess that means the seven-day-in-May crowd is making steady progress and trying to convert the Trump administration to George Soros-style globalism,” said political operative Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser and confidant. “The decision over Afghanistan was very disappointing. I’m sorry that Gorka is leaving. He’s one of the few people who actually voted for Trump and understands Trump’s worldview.” 
   
   Stone, who helped Trump think through his presidential bid, warned that while he is not yet throwing in the towel on the Trump presidency, “I can find another candidate for 2020 who can win the primary, believe me.” 
   
   Gorka was closely aligned with Bannon, and often attended meetings as Bannon’s surrogate and worked with his former Breitbart colleague in his West Wing office. 
   
   Internally, Bannon was his biggest defender against skeptics who accused him of holding anti-Semitic views and playing up his intellectual status by insisting on going by “Dr. Sebastian Gorka.” But he was not seen as a power player in the administration other than as an effective television surrogate. That role endeared him to Trump but made him thin-skinned about the media that covered him: He often blocked mainstream-media journalists from following him on Twitter. 
   
   It was not clear whether Gorka, like Bannon, would return to Breitbart News, where he previously served as national security editor. 
   
   Eliana Johnson and Tim Starks contributed to this report. ||||| A pair of House Democrats unveiled proposals on Friday to cut off the salaries of controversial White House aides Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka. 
   
   California Democratic Reps. Jared Huffman and Barbara Lee submitted amendments to a government spending package expected on the House floor after Labor Day. 
   
   The language of their amendments prohibit the use of federal funds to pay the salaries of Miller and Gorka, specifically naming both aides in the legislative text. 
   
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   Miller makes $179,700 annually as an assistant to the president and senior adviser for policy, while Gorka earns $155,000 as a deputy assistant to the president and strategist, according to an official list of White House salaries. 
   
   The lawmakers submitted their amendments a week after Stephen Bannon resigned as President Trump’s chief strategist and returned to his post leading Breitbart News, which he once described as “the platform for the alt-right.” 
   
   Miller previously worked as communications director for Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsWarren: Trump should have fired Pruitt ‘28 scandals ago’ Judge rejects Trump administration's request to block California sanctuary laws Texas nonprofit helping to reunite migrant families calls Trump an 'incompetent loser' MORE while he was serving in the Senate. Gorka, meanwhile, was a former national security editor at Breitbart. 
   
   Huffman and Lee accused Miller and Gorka of encouraging white supremacists, citing Miller’s involvement in Trump’s travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries and Gorka's work at Breitbart. 
   
   "The removal of Steve Bannon is an important first step in rooting racism from the White House. But, Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller's continued presence in the West Wing ensure that Steve Bannon's sick ideology will persist in this Administration. Now is the time for Congress to take a clear stand against hate and refuse to authorize salaries of White House officials who embrace the views of white supremacists, white nationalists and Neo-Nazis,” Lee said in a statement. 
   
   Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist, told Vanity Fair that he mentored Miller while they were both at Duke University. But Miller has disputed that account and told Mother Jones in 2016 that “I completely repudiate his views, and his claims are 100 percent false.” 
   
   Gorka drew controversy for wearing a medal from a Hungarian order, Vitezi Rend, that was founded by an ally of Adolf Hitler. But he has said he wore the medal to honor his late father, who was awarded it for fighting communism. 
   
   The House Rules Committee, which is controlled by the majority party leadership, will meet when Congress returns to Washington after Labor Day to decide if the amendments submitted by Huffman and Lee will get floor votes. 
   
   Given GOP leaders’ desire to publicly stay out of Trump’s personnel controversies or stage uncomfortable votes relating to the president, the amendments are unlikely to be granted time on the House floor. ||||| Sebastian Gorka is resigning his post as Deputy Assistant to President Trump, multiple sources familiar with the situation have told The Federalist. 
   
   In a blunt resignation letter, the national security and counterterrorism expert expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the Trump administration. “[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are – for now – ascendant within the White House,” Gorka wrote. “As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People’s House.” 
   
   Gorka’s letter expressed unhappiness with the direction the Trump administration’s foreign policy has taken, as signaled by the president’s recent speech on Afghanistan: 
   
   “Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again,’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months. This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week… 
   
   “The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost… 
   
   “Just as worrying, when discussing our future actions in the region, the speech listed operational objectives without ever defining the strategic victory conditions we are fighting for. This omission should seriously disturb any national security professional, and any American who is unsatisfied with the last 16 years of disastrous policy decisions which have led to thousands of Americans killed and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent in ways that have not brought security or victory.” 
   
   During his time in the Trump administration, Gorka focused on issues such as countering the Muslim Brotherhood, the crisis in Qatar, supporting efforts to draft a new long-term national security strategy, and combatting China’s economic warfare. Before coming to the White House, Gorka was the Major General Matthew C. Horner Chair at Marine Corps University and also contributed to Breitbart News. 
   
   Gorka’s tenure at the White House was marked by unusually vociferous attacks against him and his family by left-leaning media organizations and the Democratic Party. This includes personal attacks against his wife, mother, and son. 
   
   A source close to the White House said of his decision, “This was more or less going to be a done deal when Bannon submitted his resignation. Not because he didn’t have a protector, but because there is no point in having your life ruined every day if you’re not going to get much accomplished.” The same source said that what did change after Bannon left was that anti-Bannon factions began erecting bureaucratic road blocks to undermine Gorka internally. 
   
   The Forward has written dozens of attack pieces against Gorka, including several attempting to align him with Nazism. Most recently that publication retracted a story about his son’s schoolwork. Gorka strenuously objected to allegations he had ties to Nazi groups in his family’s home country of Hungary, where he had previously been involved in national politics. Even detractors eventually acknowledged the Nazi accusations were unfair smears. 
   
   In his letter, Gorka made clear that he believes in the promise of the Trump presidency despite being concerned about its present direction. 
   
   “Your presidency will prove to be one of the most significant events in modern American politics. November the 8th was the result of decades during which the political and media elites felt that they knew better than the people who elect them into office. They do not, and the MAGA platform allowed their voices to be heard,” he wrote, adding, “Millions of people believe in, and have chosen, you and your vision of Making America Great Again. They will help eventually rebalance this temporary reality.” 
   
   UPDATE: In response to this story, an anonymous White House official reportedly said, “Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House.”
target: – Will Steven Miller be next? Controversial Trump aide Sebastian Gorka, an ally of Steve Bannon, is out of the White House. He appears to have been ousted as part of chief of staff John Kelly's push to clean house, reports the New York Times. "Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House," a White House official tells Politico. Even if the 46-year-old Gorka didn't officially resign, he was clearly preparing to do so—the conservative Federalist ran portions of his resignation letter in which he expressed disappointment over what he sees as the White House's new direction. "It is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are—for now—ascendant within the White House,” Gorka wrote. “As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People’s House.” In the letter, Gorka took particular exception to the new Afghanistan strategy unveiled by the president. Like Bannon, Gorka opposes sending new troops. And “the fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost." Gorka had focused on national security issues in his role as deputy assistant to the president and had plenty of critics. In fact, two House Democrats recently unveiled legislation seeking to bar Gorka and Miller from collecting White House salaries, reports the Hill. The lawmakers accused the pair of encouraging white supremacy. Gorka had been a contributor to Breitbart News before joining the White House, and it wasn't clear whether he would rejoin Bannon there now that he's out.