Susan Rice will depart her role as President Joe Biden’s domestic policy adviser next month, Biden announced on Monday.
A White House official confirmed to FWRD AXIS News that Rice’s last day will be May 26.
“Susan was synonymous with foreign policy, having previously served as National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador,” Biden said. “But what I knew then and what we all know now – after more than two years of her steady leadership of the Domestic Policy Council – it’s clear: there is no one more capable, and more determined to get important things done for the American people than Susan Rice.”
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said Rice was a key figure in driving Biden’s agenda and has taken the Domestic Policy Council “to new heights.”
“It is extraordinary when you think about what she’s done in terms of public service across her career, capped off by being the first person ever to be the national security adviser and domestic policy adviser,” said Zients. “It really speaks a lot to her leadership and her range.”
Rice’s time as the domestic policy adviser was both prolific and controversial, which included a popular Republican talking point: immigration policy.
The process to select a new domestic policy adviser will begin immediately, extending to candidates both inside and outside the White House, a senior administration official said.
Rice served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations but entered the job without any domestic policy background. Still, she was on the shortlist to be Biden’s vice president and entered the job with the intention of only staying for two years, according to a senior administration official.
The timing of Rice’s departure is questionable with the White House facing questions over the handling of migrant children at the border who showed up unaccompanied. Rice along with the White House has faced questions if they were aware sponsors of migrant children were making them work in violation of child labor laws.
Rice is expected to spend time with her family in the summer before deciding on her next act but has not ruled out a future stint in government.
