Who is Jen Psaki? Biden names White House press secretary with all-female senior staff
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Sunday announced Jen Psaki will serve as White House press secretary along with an all-female senior communications staff.
The announcement comes as the Biden-Harris transition team has been assembling White House staff and moving forward with the transfer of power process as Biden and Harris prepare to take office on Jan. 20, 2021. Biden is the projected winner of the presidential election over President Donald Trump, with 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232, according to The Associated Press. The winner needed at least 270.
Last week, the transition team named several key national security and foreign relations posts, and Biden is expected to announce additional Cabinet picks this week. His Cabinet nominees will still need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Other senior members of the communications team announced Sunday include Kate Bedingfield as White House communications director, Pili Tobar as deputy White House communications director, Elizabeth Alexander as communications director for first lady Jill Biden, Ashley Etienne as Harris’s communications director, Karine Jean-Pierre as principal deputy press secretary and Symone Sanders as Harris’s senior adviser and chief spokesperson.
It will be the first time all senior staff on a White House communications team are women.
The announcement follows Biden’s pledge on the campaign trail that his administration will “look like America” with diverse appointments. Harris lauded the incoming communications staff as “a barrier-shattering team.”
Who is Jen Psaki?
Psaki held several senior positions during former President Barack Obama’s administration, including White House communications director.
She also served as the spokesperson for the State Department under former Secretary of State John Kerry and as deputy White House communications director, the transition team says. She was also the deputy White House press secretary during the financial crisis.
Psaki has worked on multiple Democratic presidential campaigns.
She served as traveling press secretary during Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, according to the transition team. She was also Kerry’s deputy press secretary during his 2004 campaign.
She currently oversees the transition’s confirmations team. Before working on the transition, she was vice president for communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a CNN contributor, the transition team says.
Psaki tweeted Sunday that she is “honored” to work with Biden again.
The press secretary role
The press secretary serves as the White House’s primary spokesperson.
Responsibilities traditionally include briefing the media daily on the president’s schedule and activities. The press secretary is also tasked with issuing official statements and responses from the administration, providing background on initiatives and distributing transcripts of “official information sessions,” according to the White House Transition Project.
The role, along with the White House communications office, is “perhaps the most visible” of the Executive Office of the President, according to the White House .
Psaki tweeted Sunday that she’s spoken with Jean-Pierre about “making the Biden-Harris agenda more accessible from the podium.”
“We can’t wait to share what we are thinking as we get closer to inauguration,” she tweeted.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 8:17 AM with the headline "Who is Jen Psaki? Biden names White House press secretary with all-female senior staff."
