Meet Jeff Zients, Joe Biden's new chief of staff

The White House has a new(ish) sheriff in town

Jeff Zients
(Image credit: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

With longtime White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain stepping back from the role he's held since President Biden took office, consummate operator Jeff Zients has been tapped to replace the man described by Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson as "a very big part of the President's successes in the last two years" and hailed by former President Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau as "one of the very best people you could ever hope to work with in government."

From the hagiographic response to Klain's departure, it seems clear that Zients has some fairly large shoes to fill as he steps into one of the hardest jobs in politics. So who is the man now tasked with executing the Biden administration's agenda for the coming years?

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.