Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, goes AF: The president is losing another key White House ally amid claims she knew about the rise of child migrant labor
- Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, is stepping down
- The announcement comes the day before Biden will announce his reelection
- Rice will end her term on May 26, it is unclear who will replace her
Susan Rice is stepping down as top domestic policy adviser to President Joe Biden, the White House announced Monday.
The departure comes just a day before Biden is reportedly set to announce his 2024 reelection campaign.
“I thank Susan for her efforts, her advice and her friendship. I will miss her,” the president wrote in a statement as she left her post.
Rice will step down from her position as a senior official on May 26 told NBC News while also claiming that she told her colleagues that she joined the administration with the intention of only staying for two years.
It is unclear who will replace her as Biden prepares to serve as president as he runs a re-election campaign. There is also no direct indication of what Rice intends to do now that she leaves her post in the White House.
Susan Rice, Joe Biden’s top domestic policy advisor, will step down next month, the White House announced Monday
Rice served in the Obama administration and joined Biden’s team as director of the Domestic Policy Council. She will leave her post on May 26 – it is unclear who will replace her. Pictured: Biden confers with Rice during Obama’s meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq in the Oval Office on April 14, 2015
Rice is a career counselor and foreign affairs expert. She served as former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013 before becoming his national security adviser until the end of his term.
When Biden took office in January 2021, Rice was appointed director of his Domestic Policy Council.
In the years between her time in the Obama White House and Biden, Rice served on Netflix’s board of directors as of March 2018.
Rice has faced some controversy during her time in the Biden White House.
Notably, she came under fire after a New York Times report found out earlier this month that the Biden administration was aware of child labor law violations involving migrant minors and was either ignoring or being slow to act to address them.
In 2021, Rice told White House staff she was frustrated with the plight of migrant children.
The Biden administration rushed to clear overcrowded shelters, resulting in children being released into the hands of sponsors who put them to work in grueling and sometimes dangerous jobs.
Biden thanked Rice for her “service, advice and friendship” in a statement about her impending departure, released the day before. Reports say he plans to announce a re-election campaign.
According to five people who worked with her, Rice vented about the situation in a note she scrawled on a memo outlining the position of lawyers.
“This is BS,” Rice wrote. “What leads to ‘voluntary’ separation is our generosity towards UCs (Unaccompanied Children)!”
The Times notes that some officials felt constrained by the pandemic-era laws that many say led migrant parents to send their children to the border alone.
The border crisis is one of Biden’s biggest hurdles as president. He has often been criticized by Republicans and immigration hawks who argue that his domestic policies on migration have only exacerbated the problems.
