President Joe Biden on Friday confirmed that his longstanding advisor and chief of staff Ron Klain was leaving the White House and being replaced by Jeff Zients, his former COVID czar.
The transition comes at a fraught time when the president is positioning for a reelection campaign while facing an onslaught of investigations about classified documents found at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and former office in Washington, D.C.
Klain, in his resignation letter to Biden, said it was the 'right time' for a transition after the president's 'indisputably historic' first two years in office.
A longtime fixture in Biden's extremely close-knit political circle, Klain was part of the White House's successes and challenges over the past two years including the passage of the Democrats' climate, healthcare and tax laws as well as scores of judges confirmed. Conversely, he also saw the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.
Biden hailed departing chief of staff Ron Klain as a 'once-in-a-generation talent,' and confirmed that Jeff Zients would be succeeding him
'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.
'Just as important, he has a really big heart,' he said, thanking Klain's wife and family.
The president 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 problem-plagued rollout of the Obamacare website.
Biden called outgoing chief Ron Klain 'a once-in-a-generation talent with a fierce and brilliant intellect'
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
'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,' Biden said in a statement, adding that Zients, like Klain, 'understands what it means to lead a team' and 'is as focused on getting things done.'
Through both the Obama and Biden administrations, Zients has been the go-to person for significant operational challenges — such as a nationwide coronavirus vaccination campaign — or to repair bureaucratic messes such as the glitches and crashes that marked the launch of HealthCare.gov in fall 2013.
Then-President Barack Obama also tapped Zients in 2009 to eliminate the backlog in applicants for the Cash for Clunkers program, which offered rebates to drivers who swapped old cars for fuel-efficient vehicles. Zients later took on a similar challenge to smooth sign-ups for an updated version of the GI Bill.
President Biden is bolstering his White House's Big Tech ties by tapping Jeff Zients, who formerly served on Facebook's board of directors, as his new chief of staff
Visitors take photos in front of the Meta (Facebook) sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California
Zients liquidated his Facebook stock and retained no equity in the company when he joined the Biden White House.
Still, there are concerns that social media companies could see special privilege with the White House - or vice versa - by the promotion of Zients.
'Joe Biden hiring a chief of staff, who is the top staffer in our government, while having deep ties to Facebook should be very concerning to Republicans and Democrats who are concerned about the growing influence Big Tech has over our government and country,' a former House Judiciary aide told DailyMail.com.
'Implications for this run very deep, having someone with such close ties to Facebook could lead to Facebook having special access, killing legislation to rein in Big Tech, or simply filling government jobs with people more friendly to Big Tech.'
Zients, a businessman and economic advisor to President Obama, served as the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he was credited with helping fix Healthcare.gov, the health care exchange website whose rollout was marred by technical issues.
Outgoing Chief of Staff Ron Klain (left) will step down within weeks. Klain has worked with Biden in government for decades
'Americans are appalled by profiteering in healthcare – Jeff Zients has become astonishingly rich by profiteering in healthcare,' Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser said in a statement on Sunday.
'Joe Biden's best chance to fight for the American people and defeat the dark forces threatening our economy is to show real results via the branch of government he runs – the executive branch,' he said.
One year into Zients' role coordinating the White House's coronavirus response, the Revolving Door Project published an article calling for Zients to be fired.
It described him as aa 'former corporate executive whose track record bolsters the worst possible impulses for a Biden appointee in command of the federal government's resources.'
'Taken together, an examination of the companies that made Zients rich paints a picture of a man who seized on medical providers as a way to capitalize on the suffering of sick Americans. In the end, it seems to have all paid off,' the report stated.
English (United States) ·