Biden's White House chief of staff pick calls new role 'the honor of a lifetime'

President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday night that he has chosen Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, saying Klain has been "invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together," including during the 2009 economic downturn and 2014 Ebola outbreak.

After graduating from Harvard Law, Klain joined Biden's Senate team in 1989. Klain has spent the last several decades active in Democratic politics, and he was "Ebola czar" for former President Barack Obama during his second term.

In a statement, Biden said Klain's "deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again."

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Klain called it an "honor of a lifetime to serve President-elect Biden in this role, and I am humbled by his confidence." On Twitter, he thanked people for their "kind wishes" and said he "will give my all to lead a talented and diverse team in a Biden-Harris" White House.