White House unsure about Rep. Keith Ellison heading Democratic National Committee

WASHINGTON – Struggling to respond to Donald Trump’s victory, a group of shellshocked Democrats moved swiftly to endorse Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, hoping he would be a fresh face for a party with a depleted bench.

But after steadily adding endorsements from leading Democrats in his bid to take over the party, Ellison is encountering resistance from a formidable corner: the White House.

In a sign of the discord gripping the party, President Obama’s loyalists, uneasy with the progressive Ellison, have begun casting about for an alternative, according to multiple Democratic officials close to the president.

The battle pits the titans of the Democratic Party against one another, with Obama’s camp at odds with figures like Chuck Schumer of New York, the new Senate Democratic leader, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/white-house-unsure-about-rep-keith-ellison-heading-democratic-national-committee/402567445/