CNN’s Politics Reporter and Editor-at-Large Chris Cillizza has reportedly been let go from the network, where he has worked since 2017 after a long stint as a political commentator at the Washington Post.

At CNN, Cillizza’s “reporting lives under the brand, ‘The Point with Chris Cillizza,’ and includes a nightly newsletter and weekday Amazon Echo and Google Home flash briefings. He also hosts CNN Audio’s ‘Downside Up’ podcast.”

The news of Cillizza’s departure is the latest major cut made by new CNN CEO Chris Licht, who terminated Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources and axed White House Correspondent John Harwood — two leading critics of the GOP and former President Donald Trump at the network.

Cillizza will exit CNN with mixed reviews as the political commentator, known for churning out articles, listicles, and “hot takes” has at times been the target of much derision online. Mediaite’s Colby Hall wrote about the online “bullying” of Cillizza in 2019, concluding it was mostly unwarranted:

Some of his headlines read as if they belong on a politically-minded Glamour cover, with numbers emblazoned in starburst graphics. “31 flavors of 2020 Democrats,” “The 29 most surreal lines from Donald Trump’s Fox News interview,” and “10 words that should scare Donald Trump heading into 2020” are just some of Cillizza’s recent listicles designed more for quick and disposable traffic plays than providing insight.

But Cillizza also can be counted on for delivering clear-eyed commentary on any one of the CNN programs on which he often appears. He is a utility man who is equally capable of providing insights on inside-the-beltway and pop culture ephemera. It’s not like he’s contributing to high-minded and intellectually hefty outlets like Harper’s or The Baffler. It is his job to oversimplify complicated stories for the average cable news viewer.

Variety’s Brian Steinberg first reported on Cillizza’s departure, which coincides with the layoffs of “CNN correspondents Alison Kosik, Martin Savidge, Alex Field, and Mary Ann Fox.” Licht made clear to CNN staffers in late October that cuts were coming, writing in an email that “these changes will not be easy.”

At the time Licht referenced “widespread concern over the global economic outlook,” adding that “we must factor that risk into our long-term planning.”

Licht was hired to run the rating beleaguered network earlier this year after WarnerMedia, which owns CNN, and Discovery merged in a deal that saddled the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery with significant debt.

Steinberg notes that “Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made a commitment to investors that the company would cut $3 billion in costs after acquiring the assets of the company formerly known as WarnerMedia from AT&T. The company recently indicated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would have to spend between $1 billion and $1.5 billion to scrap programming already commissioned and pay out severance packages.”

Licht, however, told journalist Kara Swisher this month, “These are my cuts.”

“This is my strategy and if I thought that there was a cut that somehow I was getting pushed to do, something that I thought would be, in the, not in the interest of this company, I would push back hard, and I’ve not had to do that,” Licht added.

As part of the cuts reported on Wednesday, HLN, the cable network former known as CNN Headline News, will have its morning show replaced by CNN’s new morning show and “CNN will no longer produce live programs” for HLN, noted Steinberg. HLN, which has gone through major programming changes in recent years, comes as part of a package deal with CNN and doesn’t earn a separate carriage fee from cable providers.

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