“Finding a successor with all these skills will not be easy and probably impossible,” says Tenpas. “They’re headed for a re-election campaign, which adds value to Ron. This means he has campaign experience and political savvy. Plus, Chief of Staff Capitol. His experience on the Hill It could be useful in confronting a divided government.”
At this point in his presidency, Donald J. Trump was already his third chief of staff and third national security adviser, and had lost more than half of his original 15-member Cabinet. By contrast, none of Biden’s statutory cabinet members have resigned. In fact, even Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen was speculated that she might step down after the midterm elections, but she recently said she would stay with Biden.
Tempus calculates that Biden had a 40% turnover rate during the first two years of his most senior role. That’s much lower than Trump’s 66% turnover rate during the same period, but higher than other recent presidents like Barack Obama, which he’s seen in his first two years. Only he was 24%.
Still, among those who left were few of the highest level or some of the president’s entourage. Biden’s overall turnover rate is higher than otherwise. This is partly due to the disruption of staff coming and going more frequently in Vice President Kamala Harris’ office.
Other resignations are expected after the president’s State of the Union address, possibly scheduled for February 7. The President’s Council of Economic Advisers returns to Princeton University.
Raised in Indiana, graduated from Georgetown University and earned a law degree from Harvard University, the 61-year-old Klein has served under three presidents and has probably held more White House positions than any of his predecessors. Experienced. He served as Deputy Counsel to President Bill Clinton, Counsel to Attorney General Janet Leno, and Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore. A central figure in Mr. Gore’s futile fight to win an election recount in Florida in 2000, Mr. Klein was later played by Kevin Spacey in his 2008 HBO film Recount. .
Klein also worked in Biden’s Senate office and served as Mr. Biden’s chief of staff before becoming Mr. Obama’s Ebola response coordinator. Overall, he has served under his nine previous White House chiefs of staff. “I have worked for more White House Chiefs of Staff than any other White House Chief of Staff,” Klein once boasted.