White House staff given three weeks to decide if they want to keep working for Donald Trump

Staff at the White House have been given until the end of the month to decide whether they want to continue working for the current administration.

While Donald Trump has made a series of notable hirings and firings since taking office almost a year ago, behind the scenes the White House has been struggling with a staff shortage.

In recent weeks and months, more members of staff have either left or signalled their intention to depart the West Wing.

Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, has stepped in to try to restore stability by issuing a deadline for officials to say whether they plan to stay or go, according to a CNN report.

According to the report, they have got until the end of January to say whether they want to leave the administration or if they intend remaining during November's crucial midterm elections.

The White House has rejected the claims. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "There has been no directive on staff departures and any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous fake news."

Vice-president Mike Pence has also been hit with staffing problems and lost both his chief lawyer and domestic policy director at the beginning of the year.

A regular turnover of staff in any White House administration is commonplace but the Trump era has brought in a new style of management that has been unpredictable and chaotic.

Intense scrutiny by the press combined with the investigations into alleged collusion with Russian interests and Trump's unique style of management means that more staff could be on the way out very soon, say sources.

The pressures do not look set to ease any time soon with Robert Mueller's Russia probe creating legal and financial headaches for staff.

According to the CNN report among the possible big names that could be departing are White House counsel Don McGahn and the National Security Advisor HR McMaster who are both thought to be mulling over their futures with the administration.