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Ron Klain is expected to step down as White House chief of staff in the coming weeks


WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain is expected to depart the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two sources familiar with the decision.

Klain has served in the top role for more than two years and was a key adviser to Biden during the 2020 campaign. It has been long expected that he would leave sometime after the midterm elections and the plan is for him to do so after Biden’s State of the Union address early next month, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

As the first departure among a stable core of senior advisers closest to the president, Klain’s exit is likely the first domino in a series of staffing moves to come. Advisers have long said a wave of them would likely come after the State of the Union on Feb. 7, with parallel moves as part of a campaign ramp-up.

The move comes at a critical time for the Biden White House, as congressional investigations ramp up and a potential 2024 re-election gets underway, but it’s also not shocking to those who work with Klain. “No one is surprised,” an administration official said.

There are several replacements already being considered, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions. Among the candidates, current senior adviser Anita Dunn, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and former Delaware Governor Jack Markell.  

Klain declined to confirm or deny news of his impending departure, which was first reported by The New York Times. “We have no announcement right now,” he told NBC News Saturday afternoon.  

Klain, who has been the president’s chief of staff since his inauguration and has worked with Biden for decades, is credited with bringing a quiet discipline and order to West Wing operations, which have been noticeably free of drama.

Biden’s cabinet has not seen any turnover, nor has there been the backbiting and turf wars that were a feature of daily life in former President Donald Trump’s White House.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., would not confirm or deny Klain’s reported plans to depart. But he said that Klain has been an indispensable part of the policy successes Biden has racked up.

“Ron Klain’s talent, energy, integrity and skills have been central to the accomplishments of the last two years,” said Coons, who is close to the Biden White House. “He is relentlessly loyal to the president, clear-eyed about the challenges of advancing his agenda and unmatched in his work ethic.”

“The lack of professionalism and raw chaos of the Trump White House have been largely forgotten in the circles that I work in,” Coons added. “It just feels like we’re back to normal. There are grownups in the room.”

Chris Whipple, who has written a book about White House chiefs of staff and recently published a new book about the Biden White House, ranked Klain as one of the best chiefs in the modern presidency. Others, he said, were James Baker, who was chief of staff under former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; and Leon Panetta, who held the post under former Democratic President Bill Clinton, Whipple said. 

“This is a huge challenge for Joe Biden to pick Ron Klain’s successor,” Whipple said. “Those are enormous shoes to fill. Klain belongs in elite company among the best White House chiefs of staff around.”

“You have to know how to run the White House; you have to know Capitol Hill inside out; and you have to be able to manage the president and manage up and down. He has a 30-year relationship with Joe Biden. They were like an old married couple.” 

A president’s first chief of staff typically stays in the job for about two years. Trump replaced his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, early, just six months after he took office. Former President Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, left after the midterm elections.

Mike Memoli and Kristen Welker contributed.





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