Mulvaney excluded from planning for raid on ISIS leader: report

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was reportedly left out of the meeting to plan for the raid in which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died.

NBC News, citing multiple unidentified current and former Trump administration officials, reports that Mulvaney did not find out about the special forces operation in Syria until after it was underway.

Mulvaney was informed of the raid Saturday night, after President Trump had already tweeted that “something very big has just happened,” according to the network.

{mosads}The chief of staff would normally be central to such a massive undertaking to help coordinate public statements and inform congressional leaders and allies, NBC News noted, adding that Bill Daley, White House chief of staff under former President Obama, was in the Situation Room during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

A White House official told NBC News that Mulvaney was absent because the “operation began very quickly, and while he was not able to get to a secure location in time to participate, he was briefed on its success upon conclusion.”

Mulvaney was reportedly home in South Carolina when he learned of the raid.

The development comes amid reports that Trump is considering replacing his acting chief of staff. Trump has refuted those reports.

Trump also did not tell congressional leaders about the raid in advance, citing “Washington leaks.”

Democrats fumed at Trump’s decision to not inform them, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not learn about the raid until after it occurred.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) were also not informed of the raid in advance.