Secret paperwork present in Mike Pence’s Indiana dwelling

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks during an event promoting his new book at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank October 19, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Attorneys for former Vice President Mike Pence said a “small number” of classified documents were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana last week.

Pence’s attorneys notified the National Archives and Records Administration of the discovery on Wednesday, according to a letter from CNBC.

The classified documents were discovered on Jan. 16 after Pence had an outside attorney experienced in dealing with classified documents search his own home and records “as a precautionary measure” following news that classified documents were found in President Joe Biden’s home and office became. a lawyer for Pence told the archives. The discovery, previously reported by CNN, came after Pence said on multiple occasions he had no classified documents.

Gregory Jacob, an attorney at O’Melveny charged with handling Pence’s records, said in a letter sent to the National Archives on Sunday that the Justice Department called on FBI agents to Pence at 9:30 p.m. Thursday sent home to retrieve the documents that were kept in a safe while he was in Washington, DC for the March for Life.

“We haven’t heard from the DOJ since,” Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley told NBC News.

Read Jacob’s letters to the National Archives here:

Congressional leaders were briefed on the discovery by Pence’s team on Tuesday.

O’Malley told NBC News that all four boxes, “the two that have a small number of [classified] Papers that appeared to bear secret markings were found and two separate boxes of courtesy copies of ‘vice presidential papers’ were personally delivered to the archives by Pence’s legal team on Monday.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two separate special prosecutors to investigate Biden and former President Donald Trump over their handling of classified information.

The White House announced on January 9 that documents belonging to Biden’s personal attorneys were found on November 2 at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC. The attorneys then notified the National Archives, which led to an investigation by the Justice Department. Additional documents were later found by Biden’s attorneys at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 20, prompting a search of the home by FBI agents on Friday.

Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., was raided by the FBI in August after months of discussions between the National Archives, the Justice Department and Trump. Officers found 15 boxes containing hundreds of documents marked as classified in the raid.

Unlike Biden, who agreed to the search, Trump refused to cooperate and was eventually granted a search warrant. Trump has repeatedly insisted he did nothing wrong in handling documents after his presidency and has claimed that confidential material of his was released before he left office, despite evidence to the contrary.

Trump defended his former vice president in a post on his website Truth Social.

“Mike Pence is an innocent man,” Trump wrote. “He has never done anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him in peace!!!”

Special Counsel Robert Hur, a former US Attorney for Maryland, was hired by Garland to investigate Biden’s handling of classified material on January 12. Garland hired Jack Smith, a former federal prosecutor, to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents on November 18. Smith is also investigating Trump’s involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

The FBI declined to comment, citing the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the Pence revelations when asked by reporters Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

“The Ministry of Justice is independent and we will not interfere politically,” said Jean-Pierre. “We made that very, very clear.”

Biden told reporters in Mexico City Jan. 10 that he was “surprised” by the discovery of the documents.

In an interview with CBS News on Jan. 10, before the documents were found at his home, Pence said he was “confident” that he had no classified materials from his tenure in the White House.

“Our staff reviewed all materials in our office and home to ensure no classified materials left the White House or remained in our possession,” Pence said. “I remain confident that this has been done in a thorough and careful manner. In the final days of the Trump-Pence administration, this process was clearly improperly handled by staff around the President of the United States.”

Pence told Fox Business on Jan. 12, before classified documents were found in his own home, the situation was a “very serious matter”.

“Dealing with classified materials and the secret of the nation is a very serious matter, and as a former Vice President of the United States, I can speak from personal experience of the attention that should be given to those materials both when you are in office and after you are in office left,” he told FOX Business. “And that clearly didn’t happen in this case.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, SC, told reporters Tuesday the United States may overclassify information. Graham also said he believes the document crisis is now going beyond politics.

“What became a political issue for Republicans has now become a national security issue for the country,” Graham said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

— CNBC’s Kayla Tausche contributed to this article.

The FDA proposes new lead limits for child meals

Jgi/jamie Grill | Tetra Pictures | Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed new limits for lead in baby formula to reduce exposure to a toxin that can impair infant development.

The lead limits apply to processed foods consumed by children under the age of two. In a statement, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the limits would reduce lead exposure from these foods by up to 27%.

The proposed lead limits aren’t legally binding on the industry, but the FDA said it would use them as a factor in deciding whether to take enforcement action against a company for selling contaminated food.

The agency proposed the following lead concentration limits for baby food:

  • 10 parts per billion for single-ingredient fruits, vegetables, yogurt, custard and custard, mixes and meats. This would reduce exposure by 26%.
  • 20 parts per billion for root vegetables. This would reduce exposure by 27%.
  • 20 parts per billion for dry grains. This would reduce exposure by 24%.

Lead is toxic and especially dangerous for small children. It can affect brain and nervous system development, which can lead to learning and behavioral difficulties.

According to the FDA, food lead exposure in children ages 1 to 3 has decreased by 97% since the 1980s. Although progress has been made over the years, in 2021 the agency made efforts to reduce the levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury in infant formula as much as possible.

Food consumed by children may contain lead due to contaminated water or soil, industrial activity, and old lead-containing equipment used to make food, according to the FDA. The agency said it is not possible to completely remove lead from the food supply, but the limits should prompt industry to take action to reduce its presence as much as possible.

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How Ke Huy Quan stole our hearts all over the place directly

It’s a morning Ke Huy Quan will never forget.

On Jan. 24, the Everything Everywhere All at Once star and his co-stars got together on Zoom to see the 2023 Oscar nominations. When Rice Ahmed and Alison Williams announced the contenders, and the cast began to cheer when Quan’s name was picked up in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category.

“When I found out about the nomination, I jumped up and down,” he told Good Morning America. “I’ve always loved watching the Oscars. Every year I would imagine what it would feel like to be in that room, but for this dream, that dream only existed in my imagination.”

Now it’s becoming a reality as the cast of Everything Everywhere All at Once celebrates 11 nominations including Best Picture.

“I’m thrilled that this is actually happening,” Quan continued. “What a true honor. Thank you to the Academy.”

Walmart raises minimal wage as retail job market stays tight

An employee arranges gift boxes for beauty products displayed for sale at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in Los Angeles, California.

Patrick T Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Walmart said Tuesday it was raising its minimum wage for store workers to $14 an hour, an increase of about 17% for workers who fill shelves and serve customers.

As of early March, store workers are making between $14 and $19 an hour. They currently make between $12 and $18 an hour, according to Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield.

With the move, the retailer’s average US wage is expected to exceed $17.50, Walmart US CEO John Furner said in an employee-wide memo on Tuesday.

About 340,000 store employees will get a raise as a result of the move, Hatfield said. That’s about a quarter of Walmart’s 1.3 million workers who work field sales, drive trucks, package online purchases, and serve in stores.

The retail giant, which is the country’s largest private employer with 1.6 million employees, is increasing wages as part of its annual staff increase. It comes as retailers continue to grapple with a tight labor market despite job cuts at leading tech companies, banks and media organizations.

In the employee memo, Furner said the pay increase will be part of many employees’ annual increases. Some of those pay increases will also go to store employees working in parts of the country where the job market is more competitive, the company said.

Walmart also sweetens other perks to attract and retain employees. Furner said the company is adding more college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U program, which covers tuition and fees for part-time and full-time employees. It’s also creating more high-paying jobs at its auto care centers and recruiting employees to become truck drivers, a job that can earn up to $110,000 in its first year.

This story evolves. Please check back for updates.

The FDA says most individuals most likely solely want one yearly shot

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration has drawn up a roadmap of what future Covid-19 vaccination might look like.

In a briefing document released Monday, the FDA said vaccines will likely need to be updated annually as the virus continues to evolve. The agency would select the Covid strain for the spring vaccine so updated shots could be rolled out each September in time for an autumn vaccination campaign.

According to the briefing document, most people would be given a one-time chance to restore their protection from the virus. This would apply to people who have been exposed to the virus’s spike protein at least twice, either through vaccination or infection.

However, older adults and people with weakened immune systems may need two doses according to the suggested vaccination schedule. Young children who have only received one injection previously will also receive two doses.

The FDA released the roadmap ahead of a meeting of the agency’s independent vaccine experts scheduled for Thursday. The panel of experts will vote on whether all Covid vaccines in the US should be bivalent, meaning they protect against both the subvariant omicron BA.5 and the original Covid strain, which was first seen in Wuhan, China in late 2019. has been discovered.

Currently only the refresher doses from Moderna and Pfizer target the Omicron variant. If accepted, the primary series would also include the Omicron tribe.

The proposed system for updating Covid vaccines is similar to how the FDA selects flu shots each year. The agency said it can update and roll out the Covid vaccines without clinical data, which is also the case with the annual flu vaccination change process.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also expected to provide more information on Thursday about a study describing a “very unlikely” stroke risk in seniors who received Pfizer’s Omicron boosters.

The CDC received preliminary data on safety concerns from its Vaccine Safety Datalink late last year. A subsequent review of four other major databases found no increased risk of stroke, but the CDC investigation is ongoing.

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Hakeem Jeffries hooks up with Kevin McCarthy by including Schiff and Swalwell to the Intelligence Committee

House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took on Speaker McCarthy by slamming the Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell nominated to continue serving on the Intelligence Committee.

Jeffries wrote to McCarthy:

I am writing to you today to propose two highly qualified Representatives for reappointment to continue their service on the House Intelligence Standing Committee: Senior Member Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell of California. Collectively, these members bring more than two decades of distinguished leadership overseeing our nation’s intelligence community before serving in Congress, in addition to serving as prosecutors in law enforcement.

Appointments to the Intelligence Committee are the prerogative of the Speaker, in consultation with the Democratic leader. I understand you intend to break with the longstanding House tradition of following the recommendations of the minority party’s Intelligence Committee and refusing seats to Senior Member Schiff and Rep. Swalwell. Denying seats to duly elected members of the House Democratic Caucus runs counter to the Intelligence Committee’s earnest and sober mission.

At the 117th Congress, two members were removed from their committee duties after a bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives found them unfit to serve on standing committees for directly inciting violence against their peers. This action was taken by both Democrats and Republicans given the seriousness of the behavior involved, particularly after a violent riot and attack on the Capitol. It does not serve as a precedent or justification for the removal of Representatives Schiff and Swalwell as they have never displayed violent thoughts or behavior.

While Republicans have threatened to deny clearly qualified Democratic members seats on the Intelligence Committee, serial con man George Santos has been elected to two standing committees of the House of Representatives and welcomed into their conference. The apparent double standard risks undermining the spirit of bipartisan cooperation so badly needed in Congress.

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Good for Leader Jeffries that he didn’t let McCarthy’s hypocrisy towards Santos get away with it. It was also important to note that McCarthy restored committee assignments to Representatives Gosar and Greene after they were removed by a bipartisan vote at the last Congress.

Jeffries challenges McCarthy to table the appointments of the Schiff and Swalwell committees. If the tasks are put to a vote, chances are McCarthy could lose that vote because the two Democrats did nothing wrong.

Schiff will be fined for leading Trump’s first impeachment trial and Swalwell will be fined for suing Trump over the 1/6 attack.

The Democrats don’t have much power in the House of Representatives, but with such a small Republican majority, they can make life very difficult for Kevin McCarthy.

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House press pool and congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His thesis focused on public policy with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and professional memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association

Leaked clips of $24 million Dubai efficiency delight followers

beyonce Fans around the world rejoiced all weekend after attendees flouted a “no recordings” policy at an invitation-only concert in Dubai. The Renaissance singer performed at Grand Reveal Weekend Atlantis the Royal–the second Atlantis hotel in the country.

After four years away from the stage, Beyoncé wowed guests and fans alike with stunning outfits, clean vocals, a perfectly curated set and a surprise performance Blue Ivy.

Multiple sources, including Vibe and Bloomberg, have reported that she was offered $24 million for the hour-long concert. Meanwhile, The Daily Mail reports that she was paid $35 million. Beyoncé and The Atlantis Royal have not confirmed the payout number.

Days before the Jan. 21 show, audio of Beyoncé allegedly leaked online at rehearsals.

Beyoncé rehearses Crazy in Love in Dubai ❤️ pic.twitter.com/369R8rBEjk

— RENAISSANCE updates 🪩 (@B7Album) January 18, 2023

On the day of the event, guests were reportedly given designated pouches to keep their phones safe, according to The Cut. But the contestants, unable to resist the Bey magic, stole footage that made it online instantly.

Beyoncé first graced the event’s carpet, wearing a glittering gold gown with sheer cutouts that reached from her waist to her ankles. She added a thick, color-matching cover-up, signature wavy blonde centimeters, and teardrop earrings to her look.

Entertainment Tonight reports that their looks, from carpet to stage, reflected designs by Dolce & Gabbana, Dubai’s Atelier Zuhra, Lebanon’s Nicolas Jebran and Ukraine’s Frolov.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JANUARY 21: Photo by Mason Poole/Parkwood Media/Getty Images for Atlantis The Royal)

Beyoncé performs classic tracks, brings out Blue Ivy and takes to the air in Dubai

A big fireworks display opened the show as Beyoncé rose from below the stage in front of a big prop sun. She wore a bright yellow dress as she strapped on to Etta James’ 1960 song “At Last.”

According to Entertainment Tonight, the performance featured a 48-piece all-female orchestra called Firdaus and an all-female dance troupe from Lebanon called The Mayyas, which won 2022’s America’s Got Talent.

Beyoncé performed classics like XO, Crazy In Love and Brown Skin Girl. Blue Ivy, wearing a red ensemble, showed up on stage to perform Brown Skin Girl with Mom.

Blue Ivy and Beyonce perform “BROWN SKIN GIRL”. #DUBAICHELLA pic.twitter.com/1i2xRNYf9L

— Beyoncé Charts (@beycharts) January 21, 2023

When the 11-year-old began doing a viral TikTok choreography to the song, Bey seemingly cut it off with a flick of the wrist and touched her Ivy’s long braids. Twitter is still clipping on that particular clip, praising the moment Beyoncé pulled Blue in for a hug.

Beyoncé told Blue Ivy, “Not too much.” We need another 24 million dollars for your choreography 😎 pic.twitter.com/eYyUoqsinP

— Katherine Harris (@IamKatHarris) January 22, 2023

BEYONCÉ & BLUE IVY CARTER 👑 pic.twitter.com/n7TpCcgGrR

— Beyoncé Access | Fan Account (@beyonceaccess) January 22, 2023

Beyoncé ended her performance with another fireworks display as she took to the skies while strapped to a thick metal pole.

Beyoncé’s performance has celebs catching flights to the United Arab Emirates

While most of the world enjoyed the show via leaked clips, many revered celebs captured the magic in person. Some of the celebrities in attendance were: Nia Long, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey and her boyfriend DDG, Terrance J, Letitia Wright, Kendall Jenner and Winston Duke.

Real Housewives of Dubai stars Chanel Ayan and Lesa Milan also shared moments from the iconic night.

Jay-Z also enjoyed his wife’s talents from a reported private booth.

Jay Z spotted in Dubai at Atlantis The Royal, where Beyoncé is set to perform, after reportedly securing a $24 MILLION BAG! 💰👑🔥 pic.twitter.com/nnQtPGbVgk

— Power 106 (@Power106LA) January 21, 2023

Wayfair, Salesforce, Paypal and extra

Salesforce signage in front of office building in New York.

Scott Mill | CNBC

Check out the companies making the biggest steps before going to market:

modern micro devices — The semiconductor maker rose almost 3% after being upgraded from equal weight to overweight by Barclays. Barclays said it sees potential benefits in DC and generative artificial intelligence. The company also upgraded Qualcomm and Seagate Technology to overweight from equal weight. Qualcomm and Seagate both gained more than 2%.

Wayfair — The online retailer is up more than 12% after being double upgraded from underweight to overweight by JPMorgan. The Wall Street company cited improved market share trends and a better understanding of management’s spending.

Foreclosure – Salesforce shares are up more than 5% premarket after news that activist investor Elliott Management has reportedly taken a multibillion-dollar stake in the cloud-based software giant.

Shopify – The e-commerce company rose nearly 5% after being upgraded to buy from hold by Deutsche Bank, which said brands are increasingly interested in Shopify.

Abbott Laboratories – Abbott Labs shed 2.5% after Friday’s Wall Street Journal report that the Justice Department is investigating behavior at its infant formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

CrowdStrike — The cybersecurity company fell almost 2% after being downgraded to hold by Deutsche Bank, which cited increasing competition.

PayPal — Shares of the payments company fell more than 1% in premarket trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that major banks are teaming up to create their own digital wallet. The wallet would compete with PayPal and Apple Pay.

Western digital — The data storage company rose 4% after Bloomberg reported late Friday that merger talks between holdings Western Digital and Kioxia are progressing.

Warner Music Group — The music entertainment company fell 2.45% after being downgraded to equal weight by Barclays. Warner Music’s financial performance was too volatile to warrant a premium rating, analysts said.

tapestry – Coach and Kate Spade’s parents slipped 1.85% after being downgraded to equal weight by Barclays for being overweight. One of the reasons for the Wall Street venture was inflation creeping into higher income brackets of households.

skechers – Cowen has upgraded Skechers to outpace market performance and said it remains the #2 casual sneaker brand in the US and is preferred in its survey. Consensus estimates of sales and earnings per share are overly conservative, the company said. Skechers is up almost 2% in premarket trading.

Zoom video communication — Shares of Zoom slipped 0.72% after MKM Partners downgraded the company from “buy” to “neutral” citing slowing growth.

– CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Alex Harring, Samantha Subin, Carmen Reinicke and Michael Bloom contributed coverage.

Philip Esformes, whose sentence Trump commuted, is shedding his enchantment

Philanthropist Philip Esformes attends the 15th Annual Harold & Carole Pump Foundation Gala at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on August 7, 2015 in Century City, California.,

Tiffany Rose | Getty Images

A Florida nursing home owner whose 20-year sentence over a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in late 2020 has lost an appeal in federal court and now appears to be on the way to one To be retrial on six healthcare criminal charges that a jury had previously deadlocked.

Philip Esformes had appealed his convictions for fraud, money laundering and receiving illegal kickbacks, calling for the charges against him on prosecutorial misconduct and other charges to be dismissed.

When indictments were filed against him and two others in 2016, the US Department of Justice called it the “largest criminal healthcare fraud case ever brought against individuals” in the Department’s history.

A three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously dismissed Esformes’ appeal in a ruling earlier this month.

The decision leaves him on the hook for $44 million in fines and forfeitures related to his conviction.

Esformes’ attorneys have indicated that they plan to request a rehearing of her appeal by the full line of 11th Circuit judges.

But such requests almost always face long odds against success.

The same panel also said it had no jurisdiction to address Esformes’ argument that Trump’s clemency, which freed him from prison, prevented prosecutors from trying him again on at least one of the six counts that the jury failed to reach a verdict liked at his trial.

Esformes’ lawyers had argued that a new trial would violate Trump’s clemency plea and the double jeopardy clause.

The Appellate Body said in its decision, “We cannot reach the merits of this argument because the Hung counts were not the basis for a final verdict.”

“With limited exceptions not relevant here, we only review final judgments,” the panel wrote.

There is no federal law specifically stating that prosecutors cannot retrial a defendant on counts on which the jury has deadlocked after a president commutes his sentence on other counts on which he was convicted. There is also no federal case law addressing this issue.

If Esformes is convicted in a retrial in a South Florida federal court, it’s likely his attorneys will reiterate their argument on appeal that a retrial was barred by Trump’s clemency.

Esformes’ attorney Kim Watterson said in a statement to CNBC, “The Court of Appeals has not ruled on the issue of whether President Trump’s pardon for Philip Esformes precludes further prosecution in any respect.”

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“Rather, the court has determined that it does not have the requisite jurisdiction — as a court of appeals — at this time to rule on the clemency argument and expressly stated that it failed to reach the merits of the argument,” Watterson said.

Esformes’ efforts to have his case dismissed were aided by a group of former Republican US attorneys general, including Edmund Meese, John Ashcroft, Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzalez, and Louis Freeh, a former FBI director and federal judge.

That group said prosecutors in the Esformes case broke rules that prevented them from using communications between defendants and their lawyers.

In its verdict, the Court of Appeal noted that prosecutors “were not just examining privileged documents
but also tried to use them twice against Esformes before the trial.”

And the panel also said a lower court judge had found prosecutors engaged in wrongdoing, as well as a “bad faith” attempt to cover up that conduct.

However, the appellate panel found that this judge and a federal district court judge “denied Esformes’ motion to dismiss the charges or disqualify members of the prosecution team.”

The panel said it agreed with the prosecutors’ arguments on appeal that Esformes “failed to demonstrate ‘provable bias’ based on the interference with his privacy” in communications with attorneys.

“Therefore, dismissing the charges or disqualifying the prosecution team would have been inappropriate,” the panel said.

Esformes, who was in jail at the time, was one of dozens of people to receive pardons from Trump in his final months in office.

The Justice Department said Esformes’ fraud scheme spanned two decades and caused an estimated $1.3 billion in losses as a result of fraudulent claims on Medicare and Medicaid.

With the proceeds from that program, Esformes bought a $1.6 million Ferrari Apera, a $360,000 Greubel Forsey watch and also paid for female escorts, the indictment said.

Prosecutors also said Esformes paid $300,000 in bribes to Jerome Allen, who at the time was a men’s basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania and helped get Esformes’ son admitted to the university’s prestigious Wharton School of Business was by falsely claiming he was an esteemed basketball recruit.

When Esformes was convicted at his 2019 trial on 20 counts he faced, an FBI agent in charge of the Miami field office said he was “a man driven by almost limitless greed.”

“Esformes drove patients in poor condition through its facilities where they received inadequate or unnecessary treatment and then incorrectly billed Medicare and Medicaid,” the agent said.

“By continuing his despicable behavior, he bribed doctors and regulators to fuel his criminal behavior,” the agent said.

Jeff Zients will reportedly turn into Biden’s subsequent chief of employees

White House Covid-19 Response Czar Jeff Zients speaks during a White House news briefing where they discussed a pause in the issuance of Johnson & Johnson Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine April 13, 2021 in Washington, DC languages.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

According to media reports on Sunday, Jeff Zients will serve as President Joe Biden’s next chief of staff.

Zients, who helped steer the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response and run its ambitious immunization campaign, briefly left the White House in April before returning in the fall to help current Chief of Staff Ron Klain prepare for the move to to help the administration following the midterm elections.

Klain has been open about his intention to leave his post at some point and he is reportedly preparing to step down in the coming weeks, according to a Saturday report by The New York Times.

Klain, a longtime advisor to President Joe Biden, supported Biden during his 2020 campaign and has helped lead the Biden administration since his election to office. After November’s midterm elections and two busy years in the White House, Klain has told colleagues he’s ready for something else, according to a Washington Post report.

Klain previously served as Biden’s chief of staff during former President Barack Obama’s first term in office, and he has worked with Biden since he ran for president in 1987. Zients, on the other hand, has spent most of his career in the private sector, first making his foray into politics during the Obama administration.

Though Zients has a relatively limited political background compared to Klain, he is a “master implementer” and “inspires deep loyalty” among his peers, the Post reported.

A White House official did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment.