US President Joe Biden on Friday announced Jeff Zients, his former Covid-19 response coordinator and a business tycoon, as the new White House chief of staff. Zients,56, will succeed Ron Klain, who has been in the administration for two years. Biden was quoted as praising Klain for his tireless work, as he said that he is “confident that Jeff will continue Ron’s example of smart, steady leadership, as we continue to work hard every day for the people we were sent here to serve”. Chiefs of staff do everything from managing access to the president, setting his agenda, communicating with political power brokers, and acting as a constant crisis manager and sounding board for ideas.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new White House chief:
1) In the Biden administration, Zients served as the first Covid-19 response coordinator, charged with rolling out a massive vaccine program nationwide in early 2021. He stepped down from that role in 2022 before being tapped to prepare for potential staff turnover at the White House after the midterm elections.
2) Zients has served as chairman and chief executive of The Advisory Board, an education and healthcare consulting company. He was also a managing partner of Portfolio Logic, an investment firm. He was chair of the board of directors of Children’s National Medical Center and a board member at Facebook.
3) Zients was credited with overseeing the vaccine rollout, which resulted in more than 65% of the eligible population being fully vaccinated by December of 2021.
4) Zients, who has a business and public service background, will be helpful in the chief of staff role as Biden’s administration spends the next two years on the implementation of programs and legislation passed during the first two, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a Reuters report underlined.
5) He’s worth between about $90 million and $400 million, according to the financial disclosure he filed when he entered the White House in 2021, news agency AP reported.
(With agency inputs)
