Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

I really should read my own blog.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Ron Klain Expected to Step Down in Early Spring

Ron Klain Expected to Step Down in Early Spring

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Ron Klain has been in the job longer than most people stay in that role, but still, I will be sorry to see him go.  He will remain COS for a few weeks after the State of the Union, and then he will remain in the West Wing for awhile after that to help with the transition.

The decision was apparently made before the “document” news broke, but I imagine that being in the news makes this more awkward.

h/t on the news that Klain is stepping aside:  Baud

CNN article:

On his departure, Klain will be among the longest-serving first-term chiefs of staff for a Democratic president in recent memory, a fact that hasn’t been lost on people inside the White House.

It is difficult to overstate his intense involvement in every facet of major decisions made during Biden’s first two years as president. During the first half of the administration, deliberations big and small – and everything ranging from political to policy issues – would not only have Klain’s fingerprints but, most often, some level of his direct involvement. When lawmakers, political allies and policy advocates alike have been asked over the past two years who their direct contact was at the West Wing on any given issue, they have often been prone to respond with simply one word: “Ron.”

The veteran political operative’s tenure has been marked by a series of key legislative accomplishments for the White House, as well as his predilection for tweeting his opinions on a variety of topics at all hours of the day.

Klain’s expected decision marks one of the first high-profile departures from an administration characterized by low turnover over its first two years.

Is it too much to ask that it not be Vilsack?  (please please please not Vilsak, I have never forgiven him for Shirley Sherrod)

Still, officials have been quietly weighing his potential replacements, with names including Steve Ricchetti, the counselor to the president and one of Biden’s closest advisers for years; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Labor Secretary Marty Walsh; Jeff Zients, the former Obama administration official who ran Biden’s Covid-19 response operation; and Anita Dunn, the senior adviser who runs the White House communications and messaging operation, among others.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

57Comments

  4. 4.

    PsiFighter37

    I would have thought Anita Dunn would be the top choice, but per the above article she is apparently not interested. I think an inspired choice could be Denis McDonough, who was Obama’s CoS for the entire second term. Someone who has already done the job competently and can guide the ship through what may be stormier times so that more seasoned aides can join the (likely) 2024 campaign as needed. They would need a new VA secretary, but I imagine there are probably a good pool of candidates that could be found there.

    I hope it’s not someone like Susan Rice, who I don’t think is qualified and doesn’t make a ton of sense in her domestic policy-oriented role, given her background was in foreign policy.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    I am not much of a grudge-holder in my personal life, but I have not gotten over the poor judgment Tom Vilsak showed when he fired Shirley Sherrod before he had all the information.

    He is every bad boss we have all had who makes decisions based on only one side of the story.

  10. 10.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Martin Sheen would be a good choice, he knows the west wing inside and out

  14. 14.

    jonas

    I thought having the COS’s office being a rotating circus of assclowns was how a president showed he was “keeping it real” or whatever the kids say these days.

  21. 21.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Heh. It will have been for a worthy comment, therefore a worthy cause?

    (from one who actually follows you on Twitter but can’t be arsed to even remember what my user name or password are, which shows you how much I’m actually *following* on Twitter.)

  25. 25.

    sab

    @WaterGirl: Why not blame Benjamin Jealous and the NAACP who were screaming for blood at the time because of something posted on Breitbart? How is Vilsak supposed ro stand up for her when the NAACP was screaming to have her fired?

    I am still mad as hell about what happened, but let’s blame everyone involved in the railroading and not just one guy even if he was her boss. He also answered to higher ups.

  26. 26.

    zhena gogolia

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Happy Birthday!

    I live in a Mexican-food desert. I am craving it. I keep thinking I have to learn how to make it myself, but my husband doesn’t like it, so it doesn’t seem worth it.

  27. 27.

    JAFD

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Happy Birthday !

    The sun is setting now in NYC, last day until November ’twill set before 5:00 PM.

    The weather station in Central Park is about two weeks from breaking the record for ‘Longest stretch without measurable snowfall’ (set in 1973 – I remember that winter, had just taken job that required lot of driving, spent near a weeks salary on snow tires, didn’t need them that year :-( )

    Go Iggles !

  29. 29.

    PsiFighter37

    @JAFD: It has been a disappointing season for snow. As aggravating as it can be, I remember when we would get multiple snowstorms in the mid-1990s. Now, we’re lucky if there’s even one major snowstorm in the NYC region. I’d love for my daughter to get to play in snow more as she’s older, but I have my doubts. At least we got one nice dump that allowed her to have some fun, albeit somewhat limited since she was 2.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @sab: I don’t recall that part.  Plenty of blame to go around, for sure.  It’s still up to the boss to not make a decision when they don’t know the whole story.

  37. 37.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: How did they schedule me for seven days straight?  Well it was originally 6 days, 2 off, then 6 days.  But they fired one of my co-workers who also closed so they needed to cover his time with part time folk, who can only work certain days, so I ended up being scheduled(without any notification via the scheduling app or even asked) for an additional day for this week(now 7 days), off Wed, work Thursday, off Friday.  I may take Thursday as my first “sick” day.  I’ve been there a year and a half and only taken one day(vacation) off.

    ETA: With the two consecutive days off, I’d planned on going to the Owens Valley to shoot, if I stick to their schedule, I can’t do that.  I was more than pissed when I just happened to look at the schedule yesterday.

  38. 38.

    Another Scott

    Wikipedia tells me that Klain has two deputies:

    Jen O’Malley Dillon and Bruce Reed.

    It looks like JOMD ran Biden’s 2020 campaign, so he might want her doing that in 2024. That would seem to point to Reed moving up, if they want a minimal change in the way the office works. And he previously served as Biden’s COS as VP.

    Dunno. But they would seem to be decent options as well.

    We’ll see!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I’m sure Klain is great at his job, but

    they have often been prone to respond with simply one word: “Ron.”

    sounds like a journalist trying to make a guy named Ron doing what his job description says into a story.

  45. 45.

    PsiFighter37

    @Another Scott: I highly doubt O’Malley Dillon runs his 2024 campaign. I can’t recall the last time someone ran presidential campaigns in back-to-back elections. As for Bruce Reed, he was a cofounder of the DLC. No thanks.

  46. 46.

    Geminid

     

     

    @sab: Vilsack’s reputation problem illustrates a fact of public life. Very few of the good things someone does get noticed. One mistep will be be used to characterize them though, by people who otherwise know  nothing about them and their work.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: That said, I think Joe Biden will be better of picking someone other than Vilsack for his next Chief of Staff. Justified or not, baggage is baggage and there are others as good or better for the job.

    Also, I think Congress needs to pass a new Farm Bill this year and that’s never easy. Vilsack’s capabilities are probably better used in his current job.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Ron Klain deserved to have his name mispelled!

    I remember Ron telling me, “Don’t worry Geminid, I’ll never forget the little people. I will always appreciate the help you gave me with my spelling as I rose to the top.”

    Then he ghosted me. I thought that was very ungreatful.

  57. 57.

    evodevo

    @WaterGirl: ​
      If you are part-time, anything goes lol – just ask the PO about 60 hr weeks for RCAs and other not-full-timers. You get paid for overtime, but otherwise, no choice…

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