White House chief of staff Ron Klain to reportedly step down

Ron Klain, White House chief of staff to President Biden for the last two years, is expected to resign his post in the coming weeks, it was reported Saturday.

Sources told NBC News and The New York Times that Klain would be resigning his role as part of a "reconfiguring" of the West Wing team ahead of the 2024 presidential election. While Biden has not officially declared his candidacy, he is expected to run for a second term.

Klain, 61, has been Biden's chief of staff for his entire term, the longest-serving person in that position under a Democratic president. He previously served as chief of staff to former Vice President Al Gore, and also served as Biden's chief of staff when he was vice president.

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Klain additionally served as a senior advisor on Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

The White House chief of staff is widely recognized as one of the most powerful positions in the West Wing, with the job allowing unparalleled access to the president.

As Ballotpedia noted, the chief of staff "leads the staff of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and advises the president on policy issues." As a result, it is also considered one of the most high-pressure jobs in Washington, D.C., and insiders have said that the stress of the job may have started to get to Klain.

Sources told NBC News that Klain had publicly expressed his exhaustion in recent months, and had been talking about leaving around the midway point of Biden's first term.

"No one is surprised," an administration official told the outlet.

Klain will be the first major West Wing advisor to depart under Biden's tenure, but sources have said he will likely not be the last.