WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Former presidential candidate Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, said he will not likely join Donald Trump's upcoming administration.
Carson has served as an adviser to Trump since the end of the Republican primaries. On Tuesday, he suggested he would rather work on issues independently than under a Trump administration.
"The way I'm leaning is to work from the outside and not from the inside," Carson told The Washington Post. "I want to have the freedom to work on many issues and not be pigeonholed into one particular area."
Carson was under consideration for Cabinet positions including secretary of health and human services, as well as secretary of education. Carson said he was offered positions but did not "want to go into the details."
Related
Armstrong Williams, an adviser to Carson, told POLITICO that Carson "has no interest in a cabinet position, or any position in the administration," adding that the former candidate, who briefly led polls during the Republican primaries, would better serve as an outside adviser.
"It's not an issue of him turning down anything," Williams said. "It was clear that he had his pick of what he wanted to do."
Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, has left Trump's transition team. Rogers, regarded as a respected voice on matters of national security, was asked to leave by senior transition team members, Bloomberg reports.
"These past six months, it has been an honor to serve as National Security senior adviser to the Trump transition team," Rogers said in a statement after his departure was reported. "Our work will provide a strong foundation for the new transition team leadership as they move into the post-election phase, which naturally is incorporating the campaign team in New York who drove President-elect Trump to an incredible victory last Tuesday."
