(CNSNews.com) - President Biden has chosen White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients to replace Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, ending speculation on whether the administration would choose a female or person of color instead of another white male for such a powerful position.
When asked whether President Biden will commit to replacing Zients with a female or a person of color if he leaves the position before the end of the administration, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed out that the Biden administration is the most diverse in history.
“With the chief of staff news today, that position is one of the more powerful ones in Washington that has never been held by someone who is not white and male. Would the president commit to choosing a chief of staff who is not white and male if Jeff Zients were to leave before the end of the president’s term?” Associated Press White House reporter Darlene Superville asked.
“Here’s what I’ll say to this. I’m certainly not going to get ahead of the president. That is not something that I can do from here, but look, and I kind of said it at the top,” the press secretary said.
“The Biden-Harris administration is the most diverse in history. That is a fact, and ...we expect this trend to continue. The cabinet is majority people of color for the first time in history. The cabinet is majority female for the first time in history,” Jean-Pierre said.
“The majority of White House senior staff identify as female. Forty percent of White House senior staff identify as part of racially diverse communities,” she said.
"A record six assistants to the president are openly LGBTQ, and … about 3,000 appointees 58 percent female, 51 percent people of color, six percent disabled, 31 percent first generation Americans, … 17 percent first generation college grads … and 14 percent LGBTQ, and I think that matters,” the press secretary said.
“This is a record that the president is truly proud of, and I think not just the president, all of us here who are members of his team,” Jean-Pierre said.