Aurélien Rousseau, Elisabeth Borne's chief of staff, is seriously considering leaving Matignon, as Le Point had already revealed in March. "It is not abnormal that the question [of the departure of Aurélien Rousseau, editor's note] can arise after a very intense year at Matignon during which many texts were voted on in Parliament - in a context of relative majority - and the pension reform carried out," the Prime Minister's entourage told AFP on Tuesday evening. However, "there is no precise timetable or fixed date" for this departure, it was added. According to the daily Le Monde, Aurélien Rousseau should leave Matignon on July 1.
This 46-year-old senior official was appointed on May 17, 2022, on the proposal of Emmanuel Macron. A historian by training and enarque attached to the Council of State, Aurélien Rousseau had previously directed, including during the health crisis, the regional health agency (ARS) of the Île-de-France region.
Coming from the left, he previously worked in the cabinet of the former mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, then with the Socialist Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve.
Aurélien Rousseau, "he is the counterpart of Alexis Kohler", the powerful secretary general of the Élysée, noted a member of the majority on Tuesday. He's in "a crucial position on how you organize the debates and the arbitrations", but this position is "exhausting, it's a permanent steamroller". "And with this climate of tension" in the Assembly, "it plays on people's ability to hold on over time," she added.
While reaffirming his "confidence" in his Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron recently expressed his difference with Elisabeth Borne on how to counter the far right, which has revived speculation of a reshuffle.
