IIn the White House, there will probably be a change in personnel at a central point. The New York Times, citing government officials, reports that Ron Klain, chief of staff at the President’s Office, is expected to step down in the coming weeks.
As the newspaper continues, Klain has confidentially briefed colleagues on his plans since the congressional elections in November. On Sunday it was said that former Covid officer Jeff Zients would be the successor. Apparently, the move is set to come after February 7, when the president delivers the State of the Union address to Congress, in which he lays out his legislative agenda for the year.
Klain was already working for the Democrats in 2020
It is expected, it is said, that Klain will still accompany the transition. The position of chief of staff in the White House is the central hub in government. He not only manages the day-to-day administration of the President and decides who gets access to the Oval Office. He is also responsible for coordinating with Congress and for any crisis management.
It’s a one-time job, so it’s not uncommon to see a change after two years, especially since Klain, a longtime Biden confidante, served for the Democrats during the 2020 campaign.
Nevertheless, the temporal connection to the President’s files affair is striking. Biden is said to have recently expressed internal frustration with the White House’s crisis management. The affair – it is about the discovery of several classified documents from the vice presidency in Biden’s former offices – is the first major crisis since the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, for which, however – in addition to the State Department and the Pentagon – primarily Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor.
Klain was again criticized when last year the negotiations on the “Inflation Reduction Act”, Biden’s major reform package, threatened to collapse due to resistance from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. The files affair, in which the Justice Department has meanwhile appointed a special investigator – analogous to the investigation into Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump – has a different dimension.
It was announced on Saturday that the Justice Department had seized additional documents from Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, including six classified files from his time as vice president and senator, according to Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer. The search, which lasted 13 hours, was carried out on Friday and included “all work, living and storage rooms” in the house. The investigators were given “unrestricted access” to the house.
A spokesman for the special counsel said the FBI conducted the search in consensus with Biden. The Republicans, who are conducting their own investigation, had previously criticized the Justice Department for using double standards, after all, there was a raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Trump’s files affair.
Klain’s departure from the White House will presumably take place shortly after Biden’s announcement that he would run again in the 2024 presidential election. It is expected that there will then be several changes of staff in the White House in the re-election campaign anyway.