In the upcoming weeks, White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who has served as President Joe Biden’s senior advisor for more than two years, is expected to resign from his position, according to a person familiar with Klain’s plans. The White House and Democrats had a better-than-expected showing in the November elections, boosted by a number of significant legislative accomplishments, such as a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a comprehensive climate, health care, and tax package that all Republicans rejected. Klain’s expected departure occurs not long after that.
The change in personnel is also unusual for an administration that has had little turnover up to this point. In stark contrast to Donald Trump’s White House, which frequently has staff unrest and other issues, no members of Biden’s Cabinet have resigned.
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The New York Times was the first to report the development, and the person with knowledge of Klain’s plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly address the situation.
Calls and emails to the White House seeking comment on Klain’s anticipated departure went unanswered. Biden, who is spending the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, chose not to react to shouted inquiries concerning the departure date for his chief of staff.
The White House is getting ready to adopt a more defensive stance now that Republicans have regained control of the House. GOP legislators are preparing a number of inquiries into the Biden administration, looking at issues like the haphazard American pullout from Afghanistan and US border policy. Republicans have also promised to look into the activities of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Klain’s resignation also occurs as the White House attempts to limit the damage following the discovery of secret materials at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at his previous institute in Washington, D.C., dating from the vice president’s administration. A special counsel has been appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into the situation.
The president’s counselor Steve Richetti, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, former COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and White House senior adviser Anita Dunn are also on the short list to follow Klain.
Dunn, who is the first woman to hold the position, has openly stated that she has no interest in becoming chief of staff. The “ultra-MAGA” framing of Republicans that enabled Democrats to outperform expectations in the 2022 midterm elections was one of the political and communications strategies that she played a significant role in creating for Biden.
For the remainder of Vice President Biden’s first term, Zients has returned to the White House after serving in a low-profile capacity on the COVID-19 reaction team. Richetti, a longtime lobbyist, took over as Biden’s final vice presidential chief of staff following Klain and senior adviser Bruce Reed.
Prior to joining the Cabinet, Walsh served as mayor of Boston. Biden recently commended Walsh for his work on Friday. Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, is currently serving as agriculture secretary for a second term after holding the position for the entire Obama administration. He participated in Biden’s unsuccessful 1988 presidential campaign in Iowa as a volunteer.
The West Wing has been largely spared of the high-stakes turmoil that plagued the Trump administration’s upper echelons under Klain, a lifelong Democratic political strategist. By actively engaging with reporters on Twitter to defend the president’s record, Klain has been a vocal supporter of Biden’s agenda.
Using social media has occasionally gotten Klain into trouble. He was judged to have broken the Hatch Act, which forbids public servants from engaging in political activity while serving in an official capacity, in October when he retweeted a political message from the previous spring. Klain made a commitment to exercise greater caution when using his Twitter account after the White House stated that he “got it wrong this time.”
The native of Indianapolis has worked alongside Biden for many years, including as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s general counsel when Biden served as its chairman. In the Clinton administration, Klain also assisted with the nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsberg to the Supreme Court by working on judicial nominations.
Despite my respect for my forerunners, I am certain that this is a bigger priority for me. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Klain spoke about how important it is for Biden to appoint judges to the federal bench. “It’s a significant priority for me because (the president) makes it such a priority,” the speaker said.
In the Florida vote recount that took place during the 2000 presidential election between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, Klain assisted in leading the legal team for Gore. In HBO’s “Recount,” a story of the events that decided the president, actor Kevin Spacey played Klain.
His experience came in helpful as the Biden White House battled the COVID-19 outbreak in the early months of his presidency. He was also chosen by the Obama administration to head its response to the Ebola crisis.ance Film Festival, a covertly produced documentary examining the claims of sexual assault against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had its world premiere. Justice, a last-minute addition to the schedule, seeks to provide light on the charges against Donald Trump nominee Kavanaugh as well as the ineffective FBI probe into them.
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