Kate Bedingfield, President Joe Biden’s longtime aide and communications director, plans to leave her post this summer, according to The Wall Street Journal. Bedingfield, 40, has been Biden’s comms czar since 2015, while he was vice president under Barack Obama. During Biden’s presidential campaign, Bedingfield worked as his deputy campaign manager; upon his election in 2020, she was appointed to head up his communications team. In a statement, Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said that were it not for Bedingfield’s “talent and tenacity, Donald Trump might still be in the White House.” He said she had “played a huge role in everything the President has achieved—from his second term as Vice President, through the campaign and since coming to the White House.” In recent months, Bedingfield made several appearances behind the White House briefing lectern, filling in for press secretary Jen Psaki and second-in-command Karine Jean-Pierre, prompting speculation as to whether Bedingfield was being groomed as Psaki’s replacement. Jean-Pierre was named Psaki’s successor in May.
