A growing number of top-level Biden administration officials are expected to leave their posts in the coming weeks as the White House does its best to buttress Democrats’ flagging poll numbers ahead of the midterm elections.
The departures come as a growing number of liberal activists have voiced displeasure with the Biden administration’s perceived inaction across a number of legislative areas, including immigration reform, gun control, and voting rights.
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The New York Times‘s Jonathan Martin reported Monday afternoon that Cedric Richmond, the former Louisiana congressman and one of Biden’s top legislative negotiators, plans to enter the private sector in May and will likely begin consulting for the Democratic National Committee.
News: @CedricRichmond is expected to leave the White House next month, making him one of first close Biden advisers to leave. He’ll enter the private sector but also likely be a consultant to @DNC, which has not forged close ties to the White House
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) April 25, 2022
Richmond played a key role in Biden’s two largest legislative victories, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law.
That news came a week after White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy was reported to be planning her own exit over frustration at the administration’s slow progress on transitioning the country to renewable energy sources and its inability to enact climate policies.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has also been in negotiations with a number of media companies about finding her first post-White House gig. She was reported to have agreed to terms to host a show with NBC News on its Peacock streaming service starting in May, though neither she nor the White House have confirmed the timing of her departure.
The president began the year by vowing to travel the country more to interact with voters, lobby support for liberal policies, and campaign for vulnerable Democratic incumbents.
However, for most of 2022, Biden’s attention has been preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, and John Anzalone, Biden’s campaign pollster, has said publicly that the president’s inability to advance his economic agenda, not to mention liberal social proposals, has forced voters into a “what have you done for me lately” mode.
“They don’t feel Democrats can get their s*** together and get things done,” he told Politico. “No one’s going to sit there as a Democratic consultant and try to bulls*** you that this is anything but a really sour environment for Democrats.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’s team has additionally seen significant turnover, with a number of her top staffers, including former communications director Symone Sanders, departing in recent months.
The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment, but Psaki told reporters at Monday’s press briefing that she trusts Richmond “implicitly.”
“Cedric Richmond continues to be a vital, essential adviser to the president. He was on the campaign and continues to be in the White House. I have been in many meetings with Cedric Richmond, where the president goes to him and looks to him for his political sense, his assessment of Congress,” she said. “I have nothing to announce at this point, but I can assure you when we have something to announce, it will involve a new important role for Cedric Richmond and something the president is excited about and has asked him to do.”
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You can watch Monday’s briefing in full below.
