Sergio Gor’s expected departure from a key role in the White House, where he has vetted thousands of candidates for political jobs as the influential leader of the Presidential Personnel Office, is raising some questions about how his litmus tests and isolationist views will compare to his newly announced replacement, particularly with regard to national security hires.

Gor, 38, was nominated by President Donald Trump last week to be U.S. ambassador to India. If confirmed by the Senate, Gor, who was also tapped as special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs, will leave behind a powerful post at which he built a reputation as an ideological gatekeeper. 

Throughout his time in the White House, Gor has drawn attention for his unyielding focus on loyalty to Trump and — more singularly — a fierce commitment to elevating national security and foreign policy hires who share his skepticism of American engagement abroad.

His successor, Dan Scavino, as the White House confirmed this week, is likewise a longtime Trump confidant who now serves as White House deputy chief of staff. But unlike Gor — whose background suggests an interest in imposing ideological litmus tests on job applicants  — Scavino, 49, “has no ideology other than Trump,” according to a former top administration official.

Even as Gor has won plaudits from a range of high-ranking officials in the administration, the former official, who spoke anonymously to address a sensitive subject, suggested his approach to the White House role has been driven by his foreign policy worldview as well as his allegiance to the president, a tension that is unlikely to be replicated by Scavino.

“Sergio brought his own world with him to the job, not just Trump’s,” the former official told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “Loyal to Trump, yes — loyal to a Paul-Tucker-Koch world ideology, I think yes as well,” he added, referring to Gor’s former boss Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), podcast host Tucker Carlson and the activist network linked with Charles Koch, a leading conservative donor who has opposed Trump.

By contrast, Scavino, a former Trump golf club manager who has previously run the president’s prolific and unfiltered social media, seems to have few, if any, competing interests at stake. “There’s a reason Dan has a seat in the Situation Room when the toughest decisions are made,” the former Trump official elaborated. “Sergio never did. This should be a positive development for vetting and placement.”

It remains to be seen which positions Scavino will still need to help staff when he fully assumes Gor’s duties — especially with “over 95%” of departments and agencies now “filled,” according to a statement from Trump last week, which could not be verified.

“There is much still to be done, and Dan’s leadership will ensure the highest quality, most dedicated workforce ever,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, calling Scavino “one of Trump’s most trusted and longest serving advisors.”

In his tenure, Gor, a former top aide to Paul, the libertarian Republican from Kentucky, has helped weaken the National Security Council and worked to install Pentagon officials who have pressed for a reduced U.S. military presence in the Middle East — fueling concerns among pro-Israel leaders who have questioned if such views were aligned with Trump’s approach.

The personnel chief, whose efforts highlighted an intra-party battle between warring traditional and MAGA Republican factions that has recently grown less fractious as the administration has taken shape, also promoted officials affiliated with the libertarian Koch network, in spite of a directive from Trump upon his reelection to avoid “people who worked with, or are endorsed by” the Charles Koch or his political advocacy group.

More recently, Gor has prominently clashed with some top Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Michael Anton, the State Department’s director of policy planning who served as a technical lead amid failed nuclear negotiations with Iran. Anton, who is now expected to leave the administration soon, has reportedly grown frustrated with Gor’s rejections of his proposed hires, among other sources of tension first detailed by Politico on Wednesday. 

“He has the power to can people and for them not to get through,” one Trump official who has interacted with Gor and was not authorized to comment on the record said of his current role.

Meanwhile, Gor has advanced some officials widely criticized for espousing racist and antisemitic views, including Darren Beattie, who was fired in Trump’s first term for speaking at a white nationalist event and is now a top official in the State Department.

Beattie’s promotion, along with others who have drawn scrutiny for extreme views, underscores how Gor has been “clearing people who are unclearable,” said a former senior Republican Hill aide, who was granted anonymity in order to speak freely. “Sergio is obviously fine with that,” he said of Beattie’s past comments.

Trump, who in a social media post announcing his nomination last week called Gor’s time in the White House “essential” to upholding the administration’s agenda, said the personnel director would remain in his current role until his confirmation in the Senate, which has not yet scheduled a hearing.

A White House spokesperson confirmed to JI on Wednesday that Gor will stay in his post pending Senate approval for the ambassadorial role, which comes amid growing tensions between the United States and India, a major ally, over Trump’s tariff threats.

As Gor now prepares to leave the White House for a more public role, Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, suggested his approach to hiring ultimately demonstrated how he struggled to evolve with the administration on key issues.

“I think that the Trump administration has settled into a routine, and I think that people who are very ideologically rigid are finding less and less space for themselves,” Pletka told JI. “The president is not an isolationist, and those who are are discovering quickly that he does not appreciate being told how his staff have a stronger America first agenda than he does.”