Biden said ready to tap Zients as White House chief of staff
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to name Jeffery Zients, his former coronavirus response coordinator, as the next White House chief of staff heading into a critical new phase as he confronts a Republican House and is expected to kick off a reelection campaign, people familiar with the decision said Sunday.
Zients will replace Ron Klain, who has run Biden’s White House since the president took office two years ago and is preparing to step down sometime after the State of the Union address Feb. 7.
The change at the top may presage other personnel shifts in the coming weeks and months as the White House gears up for the 2024 election.
An entrepreneur and management consultant who organized the largest vaccination campaign in American history, Zients is widely respected in Biden circles as a strong and capable technocratic leader, but he has little of the political experience of a typical chief of staff heading into a reelection.
His selection suggests that the president may lean on Zients to help run the government while other advisers focus on the politics of winning a second term.
Several other more politically seasoned advisers are expected to take up some of the numerous duties handled by Klain, including Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the president; Steven J. Ricchetti, his White House counselor; and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, a deputy chief of staff.
It was not clear whether that shift in responsibilities will be formally announced or more of an informal understanding.
Zients’ selection, reported earlier by The Washington Post, did not come as much of a surprise, according to several administration officials, who said that he had long been discussed as a possible replacement for Klain.
After stepping down as a coronavirus response coordinator last spring, Zients stayed in the president’s orbit, leading a search for possible staff members who could serve during the second half of Biden’s term as officials leave or shift to the reelection effort.
Zients has long been trusted with overseeing major personnel decisions. He is the one who reached out to Jen Psaki, a former White House communications director for President Barack Obama, and suggested that she come work for Biden’s administration as his press secretary.
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a close Biden confidant, said Sunday that he would not comment on whether Zients had been hired but praised Zients’ skills.
“He’s got a lot of the same sort of skills and talent that made Ron Klain so successful,” Coons said.
Zients was considered the best choice for what aides expect will be a challenging period inside the White House.
He will take over at a time when a special counsel has been appointed to investigate the mishandling of classified documents discovered at Biden’s private office and Wilmington, Delaware, home.