Biden Picks Zients As His Next White House Chief Of Staff - Types Of Gardening

© Associated Press FILE - White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Giants speaks at a press conference at the White House on April 13, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, files)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced on Friday that Jeff Giants will be the next White House chief of staff, choosing a veteran technocrat who has led his administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as Biden races for re-election. faced with search pressure. New Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

© Associated Press File Provided - Jeff Giants, who has been selected to coordinate the Covid-19 response and advise the President, speaks at an event at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Tuesday, December 8th. In 2020, to report on President-elect Joe Biden's health team. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)

The Giants replaced Ron Klein, who led the White House at the time he was in Biden's political orbit: a massive infrastructure bill and Democrats passing sweeping laws like climate, health care and tax laws that were supported by dozens of judges. the first two years, as well as Afghanistan, whose low point is the withdrawal of US troops, and the first major personnel reshuffle for the administration with the highest ranks and the lowest turnover of the entire cabinet.

© Associated Press FILE — Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (foreground) and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Giants (right) listen to President Joe Biden's speech on his administration's COVID-19 vaccination efforts ahead of the G-7 summit. , June 10, 2021, St Ives, England. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, files)

"I'm confident that Jeff will continue Ron's example of sensible and consistent leadership as we continue to work hard every day for those we've sent here to serve," Biden said in a statement, adding that giants like Klein "lead the team." . . He "understands what money means" and "gets things done."

The Giant, 56, will be tasked with managing White House operations after the end of Biden's two-year presidency as the Democratic administration moves from passing ambitious legislation to enforcing those policies and resisting Republican attempts to deny the results. The Giants have also been accused of running the White House at a time when Biden is struggling to contain the fallout from the discovery of classified documents at his former facility in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, prompting an attorney-led investigation. .

Klein, in his resignation letter to Biden, said it was "the right time" to move on after the "historic, undeniable" first two years of the presidency.

"In the middle of your first term - two years of success behind you and two years of key decisions - this is the perfect time for this team to get new leadership," he wrote. “I have worked in more than eight of the last nine General Cabinets and have given all my strength to this work; It's time for someone else to take over."

© Associated Press FILE — Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a White House Building America Investment Initiative roundtable on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, at the Eisenhower Executive Office building at the White House compound in Washington. Left to right: Anthony Fox, then Secretary of Transportation, Biden, Jeff Giants, then director of the National Economic Council, and Jake Brodeur-Fingert, then National Economist, Chief Policy Adviser. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, files)

Klein promised to do everything possible to support Biden in 2024 "if he decides to run." Biden said he planned to campaign for another term, and his staff began preparations for the expected official announcement. Basant, however, said the president has yet to make a formal decision.

Biden said he would host an event at the White House next week to thank Klein for his service and welcome the Giant to the position.

Giants who are not known as political figures are expected to lead a separate circle of political advisers, such as senior adviser Anita Dunn and Jane O'Malley Dillon, the deputy chief of staff who ran Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. Presidential adviser Steve Ricchetti, senior adviser Mike Donilon and deputy chief of staff Bruce Reid will remain in Biden's inner circle, while longtime Democratic operative Klein will provide advice and input from outside.

© Associated Press FILE — White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Giants speaks at a press conference at the White House in Washington, April 13, 2021. Former White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator is among candidates to replace White Leader at home. employee Ron Klein, who is set to quit next week, according to a person familiar with Klein's plans. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, files)

Thanks to the Obama and Biden administrations, the giants were able to resolve major operational problems, such as a nationwide coronavirus vaccination campaign, or iron out bureaucratic turmoil, such as the disruptions and shutdowns that plagued HealthCare.gov in the fall. 2013

Then-President Barack Obama also approached the Giants in 2009 to close the gap on the Cash for Clunkers program, which offered discounts to drivers who swapped their old cars for economy cars. Zients later ran into a similar problem to make it easier to register for an updated version of the GI Bill.

The Giants served as Biden's interim vice president following his November 2020 victory, as well as director of the National Economic Council and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget under the Obama administration.

“I asked Jeff Giants to take on some of our toughest challenges, and his leadership has certainly been invaluable,” Obama said Friday. "He led my economics team as we pushed forward with our most forward-thinking economic policies, and I know he will serve @POTUS and the American people well in this new role."

© Associated Press FILE - White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Giants removes his mask as he prepares to speak at a press conference at the White House, April 13, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, files)

As coordinator for COVID-19, Zients led the effort that resulted in more than 220 million vaccinations in Biden's first 100 days, while reducing the national supply and distribution of drugs and tests. Scientists have gradually moved from a so-called "military" effort to fight the worst of COVID-19 to a strategy that allows people to restore some semblance of normalcy with a potentially endemic virus.

Although the Giants will leave the administration in April 2022, he has quietly returned in recent months to ensure adequate staffing for the remaining two years of Biden's tenure, a role he will take on in a broader leadership role.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DNY. he said that Biden's first two years "wouldn't have been successful without Chairman Ron Klein" and noted that he spoke to the outgoing chief of staff several times a day, knowing that his suggestions and questions would be passed directly to Biden.

“I've known Jeff for many years and couldn't think of a better person to help successfully implement the transformative legislation passed by Congress,” Schumer said. “Jeff embodies what an exceptional chief of staff should be. Organized, focused and forward-thinking, he is the right person to lead the Biden administration and ensure that the American people see and experience the benefits of these new laws."

In the private sector, Giants served as a senior executive at the consulting firm Advisory Board Co. in Washington and maintained close ties with the business community. According to the financial information he provided when he entered the White House in 2021, he is worth between $90 million and $400 million.

“I have tremendous respect,” said Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who spoke regularly with the Giants this week in his capacity as their Covid-19 response coordinator. "He is a very smart boy. I hope to contact him."

However, these business connections had already drawn criticism of the Giants' choice from some on the left, who criticized the new chief of staff for his experience in the private sector. Progressives are hoping for a turnaround from Klein, who has regularly relied on this ideological wing of the party and maintained close ties to liberal lawmakers.

The Giants were also an early investor in local bagel shop Call Your Mom, although it liquidated its shares before entering administration in 2021. He also served as president of the Children's National Hospital from Washington.

Full episodes of PBS NewsHour January 23, 2023