Biden confirms Ron Klain will step down as his Chief of Staff and be replaced ... trends now
President Joe Biden on Friday confirmed that his longstanding advisor and chief of staff Ron Klain was leaving the White House, at a time when the president is positioning for a reelection campaign and fending off classified document inquiries.
Biden stressed his decades with Klain in a lengthy statement, where he confirmed that former COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients will take over the powerful position.
The highly personal statement stressed that 'when you’re in the trenches with somebody for as long as I have been with Ron, you really get to know the person.'
The move deprives Biden of a seasoned advisor at a time when he is facing off investigations from Congress, a looming debt ceiling crisis, the need to head off a recession, and a tough reelection fight that could have him facing off against the man he defeated in 2020.
'I’ve known Ron Klain since he was a third-year law student. He came to work for me on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I knew the moment he started that he was a once-in-a-generation talent with a fierce and brilliant intellect,' Biden gushed in his statement.
Biden hailed departing chief of staff Ron Klain as a 'once-in-a-generation talent,' and confirmed that Jeff Zients would be succeeding him
'Just as important, he has a really big heart,' he said, thanking Klain's wife and family.
'During the last 36 years, Ron and I have been through some real battles together. And when you’re in the trenches with somebody for as long as I have been with Ron, you really get to know the person,' he wrote.
Biden said when he hired Klain he was 'uniquely qualified given his prior public service. He knows how government works, how politics works, how Congress and the White House works. He is as tough, smart, determined, and persistent as anyone I have ever met. He assembled the most diverse and the most talented White House team in history and leaned on them to solve impossible challenges.'
He said it was important to replace him with someone who 'understands what it means to lead a team, and who is as focused on getting things done,' before gushing more about incoming chief Jeff Zients.
He referenced Zients's role in fixing the chaotic rollout of the Obamacare website.
His praise amplified what White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week, while failing to confirm press reports of the move.
Covid response coordinator Jeff Zients helped organize vaccine rollouts, free testing kits, and sought to tackle vaccine resistance among the public even as new variants emerged
Biden called outgoing chief Ron Klain 'a once-in-a-generation talent with a fierce and brilliant intellect'
She called him a great boss and said: 'I think all of us here are a part of the “Klainiacs.”'
'I’ve seen Jeff Zients tackle some of the toughest issues in government,' said Biden. When I was Vice President, I first got to know him at the beginning of the Obama-Biden Administration, working closely on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act implementation as Jeff was a leader at the Office of Management and Budget. He was later handed the daunting and complicated task of fixing healthcare.gov, which he did successfully, helping get millions of Americans quality, affordable health insurance. He led the National Economic Council, and shares my focus on strengthening our economy to work for everyone,' Biden said.
'He helped manage our Administration’s transition into office under incredibly trying circumstances. Thanks to Jeff, we had a historically diverse team in place on Day 1 ready to go to work. And he led our COVID response, a massive logistical undertaking of historic proportions. When I ran for office, I promised to make government work for the American people. That’s what Jeff does. A big task ahead is now implementing the laws we’ve gotten passed efficiently and fairly. I’m confident that Jeff will continue Ron’s example of smart, steady leadership, as we continue to work hard every day for the people we were sent here to serve. I am grateful for his service and that of his family – his wife Mary and their children – for making this commitment with him. Next week, the White House will host an official transition event to thank Ron for his tireless work and officially welcome Jeff back to the White House in this role.'
Biden's Big Tech ties: President's wealthy new chief of staff and ex-Covid coordinator served on the board at Facebook Zients, who formerly served as Biden's COVID coordinator, will become Biden's right-hand man after Ronald Klain steps down next month Zients joined Facebook's board as an independent director in 2018 and did not seek re-election in 2020 While on the board, Zients was aligned with those who pushed Mark Zuckerberg to fact-check political ads and take more care over Facebook's role in elections
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By Morgan Phillips, politics reporter for DailyMail.com
President Biden is bolstering his White House's Big Tech ties by tapping Jeff Zients, who formerly served on Facebook's board of
