The chief of staff of Elisabeth Borne, Aurélien Rousseau, is thinking of leaving Matignon while dissonances at the head of the executive have revived speculation about an upcoming reshuffle. "It is not abnormal that the question can arise after a very intense year at Matignon during which many texts were voted in Parliament - in a context of relative majority - and the pension reform carried out," said Tuesday evening the entourage of the prime minister.
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. On March 17, he had denied wanting to leave his post as already stated by the weekly Le Point. "That's absolutely false," he replied. This senior civil servant, aged 46, was appointed on May 17, 2022, on the proposal of Emmanuel Macron.
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A historian by training and an enarque attached to the Council of State, Aurélien Rousseau had previously led, including during the health crisis, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of the Ile-de-France region. From this experience, he had drawn an essay, published in September, ("The wound and the rebound, in the black box of the State facing the crisis", editions Odile Jacob) to tell "how the things of the State are played, the decisions are taken".
A family in the upper echelons of the state
Coming from the left, he previously worked in the cabinet of former Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë, then with socialist prime ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve. Aurélien Rousseau, "it is the counterpart of Alexis Kohler", the powerful secretary general of the Elysee, noted Tuesday a deputy of the majority. He occupies "a decisive position on how you organize debates and arbitrations" but this position is "exhausting, it is a permanent steamroller".
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And with this climate of tension" in the Assembly, "it plays on people's ability to hold on over time," she added. Aurélien Rousseau is married to Marguerite Cazeneuve, a pension specialist and former adviser to the Élysée. His father-in-law is MP Jean-René Cazeneuve, rapporteur of the budget. 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 about a reshuffle.
