By Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Updated 11:09 PM EDT, Sun August 23, 2020
Washington(CNN)White House counselor Kellyanne Conway
announced Sunday evening she will leave her post at the end of the month and George Conway said he was withdrawing from The Lincoln Project, both citing a need to focus on their family.
"I will be transitioning from the White House at the end of this month. George is also making changes," Kellyanne Conway said of her husband and frequent Trump critic George Conway in a statement.
"We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids. Our four children are teens and 'tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months. As millions of parents nationwide know, kids 'doing school from home' requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times."
Kellyanne Conway is scheduled to speak at this week's Republican National Convention, but it's unclear if she will still do so.
George Conway
tweeted minutes earlier that he was withdrawing from The Lincoln Project -- a group formed by anti-Trump Republicans -- to "devote more time to family matters."
The Sunday evening announcement marks an abrupt end to Kellyanne Conway's
high-profile time in the White House where she earned a reputation as one of the President's fiercest -- and most controversial -- defenders.
She landed her position in 2016 after becoming the first female campaign manager to win a presidential race.
But political tension with her husband had spilled into public view in recent years.
A Washington lawyer who was considered for multiple Justice Department posts early in Trump's tenure, George Conway quickly emerged as a prominent critic of the President. His opposition took on new meaning when he joined
The Lincoln Project.
Each of the Lincoln Project principles had aligned themselves with the "NeverTrump" movement in the 2016 election and have been outspoken critics of Trump and the Republican Party ever since.
Still, Kellyanne Conway maintained in her statement Sunday that "the incredible men, women and children we've met along the way have reaffirmed my later-in-life experience that public service can be meaningful and consequential."
"For all of its political differences and cultural cleavages, this is a beautiful country filled with amazing people. The promise of America belongs to us all," Kellyanne Conway said.
She also stressed that the decision "is completely my choice and my voice."
"In time, I will announce future plans. For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama," she said.
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