LaBolt to Replace Bedingfield as White House Communications Director

WASHINGTON — Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, is leaving her post and will be replaced by Ben LaBolt, a veteran press adviser to former President Barack Obama, the White House announced on Friday.

Ms. Bedingfield, one of Mr. Biden’s chief messaging strategists, will depart at the end of the month to become a consultant on his expected re-election campaign, according to people familiar with the discussions.

An adviser to Mr. Biden since being named his communications director in 2015, Ms. Bedingfield was among the early group of staff members who joined his 2020 presidential campaign.

In a statement, Mr. Biden called Ms. Bedingfield “a loyal and trusted adviser, through thick and thin” and praised her as having been “a critical strategic voice” in his orbit and a “key part of advancing my agenda in the White House.”

She is set to leave along with several other top White House aides at the halfway mark of the president’s term. Ron Klain, Mr. Biden’s first chief of staff, announced his departure this month. Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, is leaving as well.

The departures are the first signs of significant change in an administration that has been remarkably stable. Most presidents lose several top advisers, including cabinet members, before the midway point of their term.

The White House announced over the summer that Ms. Bedingfield would be leaving, saying that she would “always be a core member of this family, even as she takes a little time to put her own family first.”

But days after the announcement, Ms. Bedingfield had regrets and decided to stay on at the White House, extending her service another eight months.

Mr. LaBolt, whose appointment was reported earlier by NBC News, was briefly part of Mr. Biden’s corps of advisers when he led the communications effort for the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. He also worked on Mr. Biden’s transition team in 2020.

But Mr. LaBolt has long been connected to Mr. Obama, for whom he served as the press secretary when the former president was a member of the Senate. He was an assistant press secretary in Mr. Obama’s White House and later worked for Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago.

Mr. Biden called Mr. LaBolt “a first-rate communicator” and said he had a “cutting-edge understanding” of how Americans consume information in the digital age.

“I saw him fight for Justice Jackson, and he put his all into helping us make history confirming our cabinet and subcabinet nominees,” Mr. Biden wrote in the statement. “I’m proud to have him rejoin this team.”