Biden to tap former COVID czar Jeff Zients as new chief of staff
Current chief of staff Ron Klain reportedly plans to step down
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden's former COVID-19 czar Jeff Zients will soon replace Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, Fox News confirmed on Sunday.
Zients served as Biden's COVID response coordinator from early 2021 through April 2022. Klain plans to step down as chief of staff in the coming days after serving in the role since Biden's inauguration.
President Biden has touted Zients’ work since the beginning of his administration when he tapped him to lead the administration's COVID-19 efforts.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There is no one better at delivering results than Jeff," Biden said at the time.
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients speaks alongside Dr. Anthony Fauci during a press briefing at the White House, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
White House chief of staff Ron Klain (MSNBC)
Biden credited Zients for putting "decades of management experience to work formulating and executing on a plan to build the infrastructure we needed to deliver vaccines, tests, treatment, and masks to hundreds of millions of Americans."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The President's former COVID-19 coordinator also led efforts to fix HealthCare.gov after its bungled launch in 2013, and once he takes on the role will continue to build economic growth through the creation of jobs, a manufacturing and small business boom, and lowered costs for American families.
Zients once served as the acting and deputy director of the Office of the Management and Budget under President Obama, and it is anticipated that his strong relationships in the business community will be an asset to the Biden Administration.
Zients was previously a co-chair for the Biden transition team and has worked at Facebook, The Advisory Board Company and CEB.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He has also been in President Biden's inner circle for many years and has developed relationships with every member of his senior advisor group.
Klain, a longtime Biden confidante and Democratic operative, was the longest-serving chief of staff to a Democratic president. He previously served as Biden's chief of staff when he was vice president during the Obama administration and is an attorney and former lobbyist.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A graduate of Harvard Law School, Klain began his career working for the then-senator from Delaware. In the late 1980s, when Biden led the Senate Judiciary Committee, Klain served as the committee’s chief counsel. Furthermore, he was an adviser and speechwriter for Biden’s unsuccessful 1988 and 2008 White House campaigns.
The shake-up comes as Biden is facing the biggest scandal of his presidency so far, with stashes of misplaced classified documents continuing to be found at his private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter earlier in January, tapping former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden walks toward reporters. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
The White House (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
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The timeline for Klain's departure and Zients' arrival as chief of staff remains unclear.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.