Follow @sneedlingsEvil in the Oval?
Sneed hears from a knowledgeable source that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus will be shown the exit door if the Republican health care bill, which President Donald Trump wants to repeal and replace Obamacare with, gets tubed.
• Translation: Is a swinging door in Priebus’ future?
• To wit: Trump has been racing against the clock to ensure the passage of a critical vote on the House floor Thursday to ditch Obamacare.
• The backshot: Priebus has been the link between Trump’s White House and Capitol Hill, and has been skating on thin ice because of his tense relationship with Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.
• The buckshot: Bannon — a combative conservative of Irish-American descent — and Priebus — a mild-mannered guy from small-town Wisconsin — have joked publicly how well they get along. Their relationship within the confines of the West Wing is described not as a bicker, but a battle.
Stay tuned.
OPINION
Follow @sneedlingsObamarama . . .
Sneed is told former President Barack Obama, who is enjoying a vacation and almost every minute of no longer serving in the nation’s top job, plans to hit Chicago sometime in the spring.
Obamadrama . . .
Word is Obama has no immediate plans to go public to defend himself in the midst of unsubstantiated claims by Trump that he was wiretapped by Obama last year.
•Translation: Obama feels Trump has succeeded in being hoisted on his own petard all by himself . . . thank you very much.
Yum!
Yikes!
Imagine the shock of RPM Italian eatery diners in River North on Tuesday night when the cast from the upcoming film “What They Had,” which began production in Chicago this week, strolled in for a little private repast!
• Blink! In the wink of an eye, the celeb set dining behind closed doors in the “Board Room” included actors Hilary Swank, Blythe Danner, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster, Taissa Farmiga and writer/director Elizabeth Chomko.
• Gulp! The uber fit group dined on octopus, lobster and King Crab — and how much you want to bet the men were the ones topping off the meal with bomboloni and chocolate torta?
Ka-ching!
$$$!
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who prides himself on trying to save taxpayers money, drove himself — at no expense to taxpayers — to Washington, D.C., this week.
• The goal: To give a keynote address at a mental-health summit on behavioral health and criminal justice, warning of negative effects on the mentally ill stemming from the proposed health care act if their access to care through Medicaid expansion is made impossible.
• The gas: Dart paid for it out of his own pocket.
There ya go.
Sneedlings . . .
I spy: Blackhawks Brian Campbell, Michal Kempny, Tomas Jurco, Richard Panik, Marcus Kruger and Johnny Oduya spotted celebrating their win over the Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Cut on Sunday. . . . Roger Clinton Jr., Bill Clinton’s half-brother, spotted at Harry Caray’s Steakhouse in River North on Friday night. The brothers grew up listening to Caray broadcasting St. Louis Cardinals games on KMOX. . . . NFL Hall of Famer Andre Reed dining at Harry Caray’s in Rosemont on Saturday with Hall of Fame NFL coach Marv Levy’s family. . . . Today’s birthdays: Kyrie Irving, 25; Ayesha Curry, 28, and Brett Eldredge, 31.
