Ron Klain Expected to Step Down as Biden’s White House Chief of Staff
New York TimesDec 23, 2022
The Facts
After two years of serving in Pres. Biden's administration, Ron Klain is expected to step down as White House chief of staff in the coming weeks. Klain lasted longer than any other Democratic president's first chief of staff in more than 50 years.
Klain, whose departure comes as Biden faces an investigation over the handling of classified documents from before his presidency, will be replaced by former Biden COVID lead Jeff Zients, who briefly left the administration in April, before returning ahead of the midterms.
The Spin
Republican narrative
This administration has been chock-full of chaos and controversy since the beginning, and the departure of Klain — who’s probably taking the opportunity to distance himself from the worsening classified documents situation — won't change much. Zients will likely be the same conduit between an aging Biden and the Democratic Party's demands.
Democratic narrative
For the most part, Biden has enjoyed staff consistency, keeping Klain and his entire cabinet until now — marking him and Obama as the only presidents since Ronald Reagan to keep a full cabinet through the midpoint of their term. Historically, it’s normal to make a change of chief of staff at this point in a presidency. Unlike the Trump administration, the Biden White House has been successful policy-wise and stable personnel-wise.