They can’t quit Joe

The power players, latest policy developments, and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing.

Jan 18, 2023 View in browser   By Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.   Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Eli | Email Lauren When former Atlanta Mayor KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS joined the Biden administration last June, her role overseeing the Office of Public Engagement was always going to be temporary. Just how temporary remains to be seen. Bottoms, who serves as a "special government employee," initially told President JOE BIDEN she'd stay through the midterm election. "My first final day was going to be Nov. 4," she said in an interview with West Wing Playbook. But amid the euphoria following Democrats' strong midterm showing, she pushed her exit date into late December. She remains in her role today, privately contemplating another end date but noncommittal about sticking to it. "It's been a sacrifice from the beginning because my family is still in Atlanta and flying back and forth every week just can be physically exhausting," she said. "But the great part is that when I get here, I know that I'm here with a group of people who are doing what they do for the right reasons." Bottoms's case is emblematic of a White House that has seen less burnout in many senior, high-stress jobs — an administration that reflects Biden's own sense of loyalty and reliance on a tight-knit circle. While some senior staff have left, others expected by colleagues to have been gone by now have stuck around. Prior to the election, several aides believed National Economic Council Director BRIAN DEESE, who has two young kids, would leave before year's end, but he has not. Chief of staff RON KLAIN, who long ago became the longest serving first chief to a Democratic president, has also given some White House officials the impression he's not planning to give up his job — or his beloved @WHCOS Twitter handle — any time soon, although others say his plans remain unknown. The lack of departures has even left JEFF ZIENTS, tasked by Klain last fall to help prepare for any major staff transitions, without a "whole lot to do," according to a person familiar with his work. And with Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN agreeing to remain in her post, not a single member of the president's traditional Cabinet has departed, earning him praise from government watchdog groups. (Former science adviser ERIC LANDER, who had Cabinet-level status, resigned after a POLITICO report revealed his bullying of subordinates, but those groups typically don't include that newly created position as part of their Cabinet analysis.) Even Health and Human Services Secretary XAVIER BECERRA, perhaps the most embattled member of Biden's mostly cohesive Cabinet, has hung on despite tensions with the White House over the administration's Covid-19 and monkeypox responses. The only other president since the 1980s to hold on to his entire Cabinet during his first two years in office was BARACK OBAMA. "Looking at President Biden's complete lack of [Cabinet] turnover, it looks like a good government success story of cohesion and effectiveness among the leadership team," said VALERIE SMITH BOYD, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service. Although Biden's Cabinet remains intact and high-level staffers seem to be sticking around, this White House has not been immune to departures. And more could be in the offing following the president's State of the Union address next month. KATHRYN DUNN TENPAS, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution who studies White House staff turnover, said that, so far, 40 percent of Biden's "A-team" — a group of 66 influential staff positions Tenpas has identified as core advisers — has turned over. However, some are still part of the administration, including senior adviser ANITA DUNN, who left and then returned, and White House counsel STUART DELERY, who was initially deputy counsel before being promoted. Biden's turnover rate at the two-year mark is far better than that of President DONALD TRUMP — who had a rate of 66 percent — and is also an improvement over RONALD REAGAN's 57 percent. But he falls behind Presidents BILL CLINTON (38 percent), GEORGE W. BUSH (33 percent), GEORGE H.W. BUSH (25 percent) and Obama (24 percent). Most of the staff shake ups occurred during Biden's second year, partly fueled by changes in Vice President KAMALA HARRIS' office — including the departure of her chief of staff TINA FLOURNOY and National Security Adviser NANCY McELDOWNEY — as well as turnover in the White House counsel's office. But overall, Tenpas said Biden represents a return to normalcy after the tumultuous Trump years. Now, when people leave their White House posting, they're doing it for family reasons, or to go to academic jobs. Some, like Office of Management and Budget director SHALANDA YOUNG, even get promoted within the administration. "Biden's succession plans are very organized," said Tenpas. "There's not a lot of drama." MESSAGE US —Are you JEFF ZIENTS, who is being tasked to oversee WH staff transitions? We want to hear from you. And we'll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. POTUS PUZZLER This one is from Allie. Testing your presidential movie knowledge with this one. Who was the actor who played GEORGE W. BUSH in the 2008 comedy-drama about the president's life titled W.? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval BIG HOLE ON THE FLOTUS BEAT: KATE BENNETT, who owned the East Wing beat for CNN over the last six years, is leaving the network for a senior adviser job at Invariant, the bipartisan lobbying and communications shop run by HEATHER PODESTA. The author of a 2019 biography of former first lady MELANIA TRUMP and a former POLITICO columnist, Bennett told West Wing Playbook she's looking forward to a new challenge. She also felt the timing was right to make the jump to strategic communications as she reached the end of her current CNN contract. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Anything about the December producer price index. National Economic Council Deputy Director BHARAT RAMAMURTI retweeted a breakdown of the numbers, which signal that inflation is dropping. The president said the numbers show "real progress tackling inflation and lowering costs, successfully transitioning from a historic recovery to steady and stable growth," in a statement Wednesday. Tweet by Bharat Ramamurti | Twitter WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: That despite the optimistic economic figures, the layoffs keep coming. WSJ's TOM DOTAN reports that Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees. The company's CEO SATYA NADELLA "pointed to the economic slowdown in his note, telling employees that companies globally had begun to 'exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.'" WITH RELISH: The White House seemed to be, uh, enjoying the response to Tuesday's tweet showing Biden and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS eating takeout from D.C.'s Ghostburger, which the president phoned in himself. The Washington Post's TIM CARMAN has a whole write-up on how the employee who took the order, BRITTANY SPADDY, was left speechless. We asked the press shop who was responsible for the "ketchup" pun in Biden's tweet. The response was equally groan worthy: "This proved to be a bun opportunity to hear from a small business who is relishing in the way President Biden has flipped the economy. We're always looking for ways to spread the gouda news. No need to grill us!" THE MESSENGER: Harris will speak Sunday in Florida to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, AP's CHRIS MEGERIAN reports. The speech is "intended to be a signal that the administration isn't giving up on abortion now that the midterm election is over," Megerian writes, adding that "Biden will likely commemorate the anniversary as well, although his plans have not yet been disclosed." EVERYONE GETS A TURN: White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said during Wednesday's briefing that she would call on reporters toward the back of the room after receiving a letter from the White House Correspondents' Association, asking her to take questions from a wider variety of outlets. In an email to West Wing Playbook, NPR's TAMARA KEITH, the WHCA president, said she reached out to Jean-Pierre as "part of our ongoing advocacy on behalf of the press corps to make the briefings as effective and helpful as possible for as many journalists as possible." "Honestly, I was surprised to hear her mention our letter in the briefing because we tend to keep our advocacy quiet, but we are thrilled that we got results so immediately," Keith added. THE BUREAUCRATS COVID, IT'S STILL A THING: Federal Reserve Chair JEROME POWELL tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, our VICTORIA GUIDA reports. Powell, who is up-to-date on vaccine and booster shots, will be "working remotely while isolating at home," the Fed said in a statement. FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: KRISTEN AVERYT has joined the White House's Council on Environmental Quality as the new director for drought and Western resilience, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently was senior climate adviser for former Nevada Gov. STEVE SISOLAK and is a research professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: MARIAFERNANDA "MARIFER" ZACARIAS is now deputy director of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. In her last role as senior advisor for Latino engagement at the DCCC, she oversaw the organization's efforts to reach Hispanic voters during the 2022 campaign cycle. — JEN HOWARD, who previously served as the chief of staff to the Federal Trade Commission's LINA KHAN, is heading to the Department of Transportation to oversee competition policy, following the airline chaos that ensued over the holiday season, The American Prospect's DAVID DAYEN reports. (West Wing Playbook highlighted Howard's somewhat rocky tenure at the FTC in April 2022.) MEET BIDEN'S (OTHER) ANTITRUST WARRIOR: JONATHAN KANTER, the assistant attorney general, is one of Biden's key players in helping the administration rein in corporate power and advance its agenda on competition policy, our JOSH SISCO reports. As he enters his second year on the job, Kanter has his sights set on larger companies like Apple and Google, saying he's just getting started on efforts to "reinvigorate antitrust enforcement." Filling the Ranks STANDING BY THEIR MAN: The Biden administration is sticking by PHIL WASHINGTON, its nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, as Republican lawmakers continue to insist he needs a waiver ahead of his confirmation due to his military experience. A White House spokesperson said Washington has "served in a civilian capacity" since leaving the military and that "it's time to move swiftly on confirmation." Our TANYA SNYDER has more details for Pro subscribers. Agenda Setting GET MITCH OR DIE TRYING: AP's SEUNG MIN KIM details the importance of the relationship between Biden and Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL, noting that despite their different leadership styles, the two could help each other politically: "McConnell's experience in cutting deals and the political capital he retains among Republican members could leave him much freer to negotiate with the White House on thorny matters such as government spending and the debt ceiling than new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)" What We're Reading 'Say their names' - Families urge Blinken to use China trip to free U.S. detainees (Reuters' Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina) U.S. to help Ukraine repair power grid after Russian strikes (AP) The Oppo Book Did you know that Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN is a musician? LOL, everyone knows. But we found this interview he gave to "Rolling Stone" back in 2021 about his journey with guitar playing, interesting. "All self-taught, which is evident if you hear me play," he told the magazine. "And I was in high school band and college bands and then later in 'bands,' in quotation marks, where guys would get together and play occasionally and do some charity work." Not just a musician, but a humble musician! POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER JOSH BROLIN played Bush in the movie. The cast also features ELIZABETH BANKS as LAURA BUSH, RICHARD DREYFUSS as DICK CHENEY, JEFFREY WRIGHT as COLIN POWELL and THANDIWE NEWTON as CONDOLEEZZA RICE. Watch the official trailer here. A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.   Follow us on Twitter Eli Stokols @EliStokols Lauren Egan @Lauren_V_Egan Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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