On Monday, the White House announced that Biden’s top domestic policy advisor Susan Rice will be leaving next month, marking one of the highest profile departures from the Biden administration to date, CBS News reported.
Rice has run the president’s domestic policy council which oversees a wide range of domestic issues, including immigration, border policy, healthcare, and gun control.
In a statement released on Monday, the president praised Rice for her pivotal role in advancing his domestic agenda.
According to a White House official, when Susan Rice joined the administration, she only committed to serving two years in the White House. The official said Rice is planning to spend more time with her family.
Rice previously served as UN ambassador under former President Barack Obama during his first term in office. After the 2012 election, Obama appointed Rice as his National Security Advisor.
Since Susan Rice effectively ran the domestic side of Biden’s presidency, her departure leaves a significant gap in the White House. According to a report in Politico, among those being considered as her replacement is Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden.
Tanden, who was initially nominated to serve as the director of Biden’s Office of Management and Budget, was forced to withdraw her nomination in March 2021 after Republicans in the Senate highlighted her vicious online attacks against political opponents. With some Senate Democrats expressing concern over her nomination, Tanden withdrew rather than lose the confirmation vote.
After her nomination was withdrawn, a place was found for Tanden within the Biden White House, where she works as the White House staff secretary.
According to one former Biden official, White House aides had been floating Tanden as Rice’s replacement over the weekend, Politico reported. The officials said the aides describe her possible appointment as “pretty damn firm.”
While serving as Biden’s top domestic advisor, Susan Rice was instrumental in many of the president’s domestic executive orders, including the student debt bailout, gun control measures, and climate change.
