WASHINGTON — Two White House staffers are expected to leave the Biden administration soon to join Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign as the operation expands in the final 80-day sprint to Election Day, according to two administration officials and one campaign official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal decisions.
With the departure, the White House is elevating Herbie Ziskend, deputy director of communications, to a more senior role to help with messaging President Joe Biden’s legacy as he approaches his final months in office, one of the officials said. Ziskendi now has the main title in this role and will also become the assistant to the president.
White House deputy communications director Kristen Orthman is leaving her post to join the Harris campaign in a planning role that coordinates multiple departments, these people said.
Former White House aide Kate Berner remains a communications adviser to the Harris campaign and now also serves as a senior adviser to Gov. Tim Walz’s team.
Ian Sams, a White House counsel representative, will move to the campaign as a senior spokesman. His departure was first reported by The Washington Post.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the Harris campaign plans to announce more new staff roles as early as Friday.
Ziskend, who first worked with Biden when he was a senator, also worked for the vice president when he took office for a year and a half before moving to the White House communications office.
Ziskend and White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt are now working more closely together on how the president plans to implement the agenda in the final term of his term.
LaBolt called Ziskend a “long-time and trusted Biden aide” in an email to staff Friday morning, adding that Orthman has been “the bedrock of the operation, able to pull off anything, run a seamless process and selflessly help the team solve any challenge that came up.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
