A senior White House official said Wednesday that he would resign after his two ex-wives accused him of physical and emotional abuse, with one presenting pictures of her blackened eye.

The official, Rob Porter, served as the staff secretary, a title that belies the role’s importance in any White House — but especially in President Trump’s. Porter functioned as Chief of Staff John F. Kelly’s top enforcer in their shared mission to instill discipline and order in what had become an extraordinarily chaotic West Wing. He was the gatekeeper to the Oval Office, determining which articles and policy proposals reached the president’s hands and screening the briefing materials that his visitors shared with him.

Aides had been aware generally of accusations against Porter for at least several weeks, White House advisers said, but learned of the specifics late Tuesday when approached by a reporter from the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, which first detailed many of the allegations.

Porter said on Tuesday that he would resign, after the allegations were first published, people close to him say, even as he told White House officials he had never physically abused women. But he was talked out of it by Kelly and others, according to these people, with Kelly saying he believed Porter’s denials and saw him as a valuable ally in the White House. Kelly continued to press him to stay in his job Wednesday, saying he could weather the storm, but Porter decided the controversy had become too much after the photos of his ex-wife’s blackened eye appeared Wednesday morning.

In interviews with The Washington Post and other media outlets, Porter’s ex-wives described him as having a dark side and, at times, a violent streak that White House aides say they did not see.

Colbie Holderness after an alleged incident with her then-husband Rob Porter in 2005. (Photos courtesy of Colbie Holderness)

Porter’s first wife, Colbie Holderness, said in an interview that he was continually abusive during their marriage. She alleged he punched in her the face during a trip to Florence in 2005 and provided photos showing her with a black eye.

[Read the emergency protective order against Rob Porter]

Kathryn Hughes, a 36-year-old public relations consultant who lives in Kamas, Utah, said that in 2012, Willoughby confided in her about another violent incident, in December 2010, in which Willoughby alleged Porter grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her from the shower during a fight. Hughes said that she and Willoughby met in 2010 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alexandria and that they struck up a close friendship.

Jennifer Willoughby, ex-wife of Rob Porter, on Wednesday in Alexandria, Va. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

“She told me that he had been screaming at her while she was in the shower and yanked her out and bruised her,” Hughes said in a telephone interview with The Post, corroborating Willoughby’s account. “She also told me he was verbally abusive, and I witnessed some of that.”

Willoughby said Porter angrily called her when she wrote a blog post about him in April — without naming him — and asked her to remove it, concerned about his public image. She said Porter demanded again in the fall that she take down the blog post, citing delays in his security clearance. In January, he asked her again to take it down, she said, telling her that reporters were looking into his past. 

“He has never faced repercussions that forced him to confront his issues,” Willoughby said in an interview Wednesday at an Alexandria restaurant. “I care about him and want what’s best for him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean him keeping his job, because he needs to face these underlying issues.”

White House officials said Wednesday that Porter could continue working for several weeks. Porter is an ally of Kelly, and in addition to serving as staff secretary, he oversaw and sought to streamline the White House’s policymaking process, coordinating with Cabinet members and other agency officials and leading meetings about issues including immigration and trade. He played an integral role in crafting Trump’s State of the Union address last month.

Kelly saw in Porter a partner in professionalizing the operation. Porter is one of the few senior White House staffers with past government experience, having served as chief of staff to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). Though many of his colleagues have eclectic backgrounds, Porter boasts a classic pedigree as a Harvard University-educated Rhodes scholar whose father, Roger B. Porter, held senior positions in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses.

In a White House known for its ever-evolving personnel dramas, Porter kept a low profile, only rarely agreeing to be interviewed on the record and never appearing as a surrogate on television.

But he was a highly visible figure in Trump’s orbit. He was seemingly omnipresent in the Oval Office for key meetings and events, and regularly traveled with the president — often being one of only a handful of aides to accompany him on the Marine One helicopter before joining the larger staff entourage aboard Air Force One. When Trump spent weekends at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida or his Bedminster golf course in New Jersey, Porter often was along for the trip, tending to the president’s needs and briefing him on developments.

When the allegations were published Tuesday, the White House mobilized to defend Porter.

White House communications director Hope Hicks is dating Porter, according to people familiar with the relationship, and was involved in the White House’s defense of Porter on Tuesday evening.

“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor and I can’t say enough good things about him,” Kelly said in a statement Tuesday night. “He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him.”

The White House also distributed a statement from Hatch defending Porter.

“It’s incredibly discouraging to see such a vile attack on such a decent man,” Hatch said in a statement.

After the release of the photos of Holderness’s bruised eye Wednesday, Hatch released a new statement.

“I am heartbroken by today’s allegations. In every interaction I’ve had with Rob, he has been courteous, professional, and respectful,” he said. “My staff loved him and he was a trusted advisor. I do not know the details of Rob’s personal life. Domestic violence in any form is abhorrent. I am praying for Rob and those involved.”

The decision by Kelly and other top White House aides to defend Porter from domestic-violence allegations is in keeping with Trump’s modus operandi. Throughout his life, Trump has refused to apologize for alleged misdeeds, believing any such concession to be an admission of guilt and a sign of weakness.

During the 2016 campaign, more than a dozen women accused Trump of sexual harassment and assault, but the then-candidate denied them all outright. He fought back against the accusers, trying to demean the women and even threatening to sue some of them.

Trump’s posture and inclinations have shaped the culture of the West Wing, where aides often hunker down and try to fight back against accusations or scrutiny from the media or other outside forces. A White House official said Kelly stood by his statement praising Porter, even after the senior official resigned.

Asked Wednesday whether Trump had any concerns about the allegations against Porter or with the photos of Holderness, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “I don’t know.”

Porter had a reputation in the building for his fastidious work and was liked by the president, who sometimes rages at other aides. 

His ex-wives said that Porter directed his abusive behavior toward them in private.

“In my experience, his anger and his lashing out is very much limited to intimate, personal romantic relationships,” Willoughby said. “He has the ability to compartmentalize and maintain his integrity and professionalism at work. . . . He is charming and intelligent and fun and chivalrous and angry and deeply flawed.”

Willoughby, a writer and former high school teacher, said she was unaware of the abuse alleged by Porter’s first wife while with him. But Holderness reached out to her through Facebook in late January 2017 after she was contacted by the FBI and anticipating the background-check interview.

The two met for lunch in Arlington in March and shared their stories — before they shared them with the public this week.

Philip Rucker and Tom Jackman contributed to this report.

The Republican-led Congress is set to vote Thursday on a two-year budget deal that would include massive increases in military and domestic spending programs, reflecting an ideological shift for a party whose leaders long preached fiscal conservatism but have now embraced big spending.

If the plan wins passage, it would quell months of squabbling between the parties with another big addition to the federal deficit, ending the need for repeated short-term agreements that led to frequent brinkmanship and a government shutdown.

The accord would deliver the defense funding boost wanted by President Trump and Republican lawmakers alongside an increase in domestic programs sought by Democrats, as well as tens of billions of dollars for disaster victims.

Trump backed the deal Wednesday, saying in a tweet that it would give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “what he needs to keep America Great” and calling on lawmakers of both parties to “support our troops and support this Bill!”

The Senate is expected to vote first on the plan, clearing it Thursday afternoon or evening — giving the House just hours to act before a midnight deadline for a government shutdown.

Short-term spending bills epitomize congressional dysfunction and hurt the military

But the deal offered another reminder that GOP lawmakers, many of whom were elected on a promise to shrink government and curb spending, have abandoned those pledges after gaining power and facing the reality of governing and delivering on competing political priorities. The tax-cut law they passed in December is also expected to add to the federal deficit.

Several Republicans, citing their continued belief in the virtue of limiting government spending, on Wednesday voiced their objections to the plan.

“This spending bill is a debt junkie’s dream,” said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), warning that it would set up trillion-dollar-a-year deficits. “I’m not only a no, I’m a hell no.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) noted the deal would deliver more military funding than Trump requested in his 2018 budget proposal. “I’m all for supporting our military, and I want to make sure they’re funded properly,” he said. “It’s very difficult to have that big of an increase in one year and then be able to use it wisely.”

The budget agreement would increase what’s called discretionary spending — areas such as scientific research, education, roads and health care that are funded year to year through congressional appropriations — by 21 percent over existing budget caps.

Those caps were put in place after 2011 budget talks broke down between President Barack Obama and GOP congressional leaders.

Bipartisan deals raised the caps in 2013 and 2015, and the new agreement is the first to be struck under unified Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

The budget agreement was unveiled on the Senate floor Wednesday in a moment of harmony between top party leaders.

“I hope we can build on this bipartisan momentum and make 2018 a year of significant achievement for Congress, for our constituents and for the country we all love,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, while Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it “the first real sprout of bipartisanship” in the Trump era.

Such amity was not on display in the House. Democrats remained disgruntled that the agreement did not include protections for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and are now at risk for deportation after Trump moved to cancel the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

[Senate leaders see two-year budget deal within their grasp]

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she and “a large number” of fellow Democrats would oppose the deal unless she is guaranteed a vote on immigration legislation.

She delivered the ultimatum at the top of an eight-hour stretch of remarks that broke a modern record for the longest House floor speech.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) presented the deal behind closed doors to the Republican rank-and-file, who were largely eager to secure the defense funding boost but wary of reneging on their long-standing promises to rein in spending.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), a conservative member of the House Budget Committee, said he had not decided how he would vote on the budget plan. “But there’s no blinking at the fact that, having reduced taxes, we now have to restrain spending,” he said. “I’m hoping when I take a closer look at it, I’ll see it, but I don’t at the moment.”

Inside the meeting, Ryan told members that the domestic spending would be focused on areas that have broad bipartisan support, such as medical research, infrastructure and veterans’ health care — a pitch that appeared to win over some members.

“If we’re going to have some domestic spending, let’s spend it on things that actually matter instead of things that are wasteful,” said Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.). “None of it is pleasant because of the dollar amounts we’re talking about. But at least it’s money spent finally on some of the right areas.”

But it appeared unlikely the bill would be able to pass the House solely with Republican votes.

The chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), said all but “a couple” of the group’s three dozen members would oppose it on fiscal grounds.

Influential conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation and the Club for Growth railed against the spending boost. Leaders of advocacy groups funded by brothers Charles and David Koch said in a statement that the deal was “a betrayal of American taxpayers and a display of the absolute unwillingness of members of Congress to adhere to any sort of responsible budgeting behavior.”

According to outlines of the budget plan circulated by congressional aides, existing spending caps would be raised by a combined $296 billion through 2019. The agreement includes an additional $160 billion in uncapped funding for overseas military and State Department operations, and about $90 billion more would be spent on disaster aid for victims of recent hurricanes and wildfires.

The bill also includes a provision suspending the federal debt limit until March 1 of next year — after November’s midterm elections — typically a politically difficult vote for Republicans.

House Republicans eye defense spending boost, complicating plan to avoid second shutdown

Some of the funding is reserved for programs favored by lawmakers of both parties: research conducted by the National Institutes of Health, for instance, as well as transportation and water infrastructure. Also included are extensions of tax breaks that could add billions of dollars more to the cost of the bill.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program would be extended through 2028, and the federal fund for community health centers would see a two-year extension. The bill also abolishes the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a body established in the 2010 Affordable Care Act with the power to reduce the payments Medicare makes to health providers.

The legislation setting out the deal is expected to contain yet another deadline, March 23, giving congressional appropriators time to negotiate the fine details of funding agencies for the remainder of 2018.