Grabbing new desk, old chairman manages (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
makes do
'manages' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'grabbing new desk old chairman' is the wordplay.
'grabbing' is an insertion indicator.
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'old chairman' becomes 'Mao' (former Chinese leader Chairman Mao).
'desk' is an anagram of 'kesd'.
'kesd' going inside 'mao' is 'MAKES DO'.
(Other definitions for makes do that I've seen before include "copes" , "Gets by with limited resources" .)