Awkward: Brownback Said He Was Leaving as Kansas Governor. He Hasnt.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas was giving a tender goodbye.

Speaking to a roomful of fellow Republicans over lunch at the Wichita Pachyderm Club last month, he mused about his next act, a post in the Trump administration as ambassador at large for international religious freedom, which was announced in July.

“As I pass from the stage here in Kansas, I leave with a warm thought and good feelings of all the good-hearted people in this wonderful state of Kansas,” said a smiling Mr. Brownback, whose seven years at the helm have been punctuated by a firm turn to the right and a revolt from some in his own party.

Jeff Colyer, a plastic surgeon who is the lieutenant governor, was widely expected to succeed Mr. Brownback and kick off the 2018 legislative session, and Mr. Colyer even announced a new cabinet appointment.

But on Monday afternoon, as lawmakers began meeting in the State Capitol for the start of the new legislative session, Mr. Brownback was still the governor.

And there is no certainty about when he might actually depart this stage, even after the White House on Monday renominated him for the post. The entire matter has left some Kansans befuddled, some Democratic lawmakers smug, and some Brownback supporters a little sheepish.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/sam-brownback-kansas-governor.html?