(Headline USA) President Joe Biden’s White House staffers are leaving at a much faster rate than both the Obama and Trump administrations, according to an analysis of a staffing report.
The White House published its full payroll for 2022 recently, listing 474 people as full-time employees of the Executive Office of the President. That’s a 15% decrease from the 560 full-time employees listed in 2021.
For comparison, former President Barack Obama’s White House saw only a 4% reduction in staff after his first year in office, and former President Donald Trump saw only a 1% reduction.
Biden’s White House has dismissed concerns about its high turnover rate, claiming departures are normal. But after the White House revealed Biden’s communications director Kate Bedingfield would also be leaving, many began to point out that Biden’s poor approval ratings are pushing people out the door.
“It’s not altogether unsurprising,” one senior Democratic official told the Washington Examiner.
“Looking at all of the difficulties the president is facing, from inflation to the war in Ukraine to members of his own party refusing to advance his legislative agenda, it makes sense that some staffers might seek greener pastures.”
Update: The White House has now sent me the statement from Ron Klain. pic.twitter.com/Ond5oM2pMr
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 6, 2022
Bedingfield is just the latest senior departure. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki departed in May, as did Cedric Richmond, who served as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s office has experienced a similar exodus. She has lost at least 13 staffers who held influential roles, including deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh, and chief of staff Tina Flournoy.
In a damaging case of fleeing a sinking ship, the White House has also seen black staffers leave in droves, spawning the term “Blaxit” to explain the mass exodus.
