President Joe Biden’s Communications Director Kate Bedingfield will step down in February, the White House announced Friday.
Bedingfield, who has served as the White House communications director throughout the entirety of Biden’s presidency, will be replaced by Ben LaBolt.
The White House did not state where Bedingfield will be headed next.
White House Director of Communications Kate Bedingfield speaks during a briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 30, 2022. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Prior to being communications director for the president, Bedingfield held three different White House communications leadership roles in the Obama-Biden administration. She was also communications director for Biden in 2015-2016 when he was vice president and served as deputy campaign manager for Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Extremely grateful for the opportunity and honored to serve @POTUS. @WHCommsDir has built a world class communications team that has won hard fought, come from behind victories, and as the President said, I have big shoes to fill. 1/3 https://t.co/Vh5YG5uTMb
— Ben LaBolt (@BenLaBolt) February 10, 2023
LaBolt, who will be the first openly gay White House communications director, led communications for the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, has served on three presidential campaigns and held communications positions in the Senate and House, including being press secretary for then-Senator Barack Obama. (RELATED: Biden’s Top Economic Adviser Quits)
He also was an advisor on nominations during the Biden-Harris transition.
“Since my time as Vice President, Kate has been a loyal and trusted adviser, through thick and thin,” Biden said in a statement. “She was a critical strategic voice from the very first day of my presidential campaign in 2019 and has been a key part of advancing my agenda in the White House. The country is better off as a result of her hard work and I’m so grateful to her – and to her husband and two young children – for giving so much. Ben has big shoes to fill. I look forward to welcoming him back as a first-rate communicator who’s shown his commitment to public service again and again, and who has a cutting-edge understanding of how Americans consume information. I saw him fight for Justice Jackson, and he put his all into helping us make history confirming our cabinet and subcabinet nominees. I’m proud to have him rejoin this team.”
Bedingfield’s departure marks another major leadership shakeup in the White House since the midterms. Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain, his top economic adviser Brian Deese and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh have all stepped down in recent weeks.