US President-elect Joe Biden has announced the appointment of Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President.
“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday night.
He added that “his deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.”
For his part, Klain said “it’s the honor of a lifetime to serve President-elect Biden in this role, and I am humbled by his confidence. “I look forward to helping him and the Vice President-elect (Kamala Harris) assemble a talented and diverse team to work in the White House, as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change, and seek to heal the divides in our country,” he added.
According to the statement, Klain served as Biden’s first Chief of Staff when he became Vice President (2009-11); Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee during Biden’s tenure as Chair of the Committee (1989-92); and Policy Advisor on the Judiciary Committee staff (1986- 87). Klain also worked as an advisor on Biden’s 1988 and 2008 Presidential campaigns