STAFF SHAKEUP

White House Communications Director to Step Down

Bedingfield, who has been with Biden since his time as vice president, will be replaced by a former Obama administration official.

Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director and a longtime aide to President Joe Biden, is stepping down from her post and into a likely role in the president’s re-election campaign. Her position will be filled by Ben LaBolt, an Obama administration veteran who worked with Biden on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. He will be the first out gay man to lead a White House communications team. Bedingfield, who has been with Biden since his days as vice president, made a similar announcement last summer, only to reverse course and stay in her post. However, sources told CNN Bedingfield is serious this time. The staff shakeup comes amid a period of high-profile turnover in the Biden administration, with the former chief of staff, Ron Klain, stepping down recently, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and top economic advisor Brian Deese expected to follow soon.