Top White House counsel abandons Biden ship

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As November midterm elections is approaching, the resignation spree of the White House staffers is getting intensified, which is now followed by Dana Ramus, a top counsel of the Biden administration.

According to NPR report, Dana Remus has been the top attorney for President Joe Biden since his inauguration and also served as general counsel on the Biden campaign and in the White House of former President Obama. She also clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

“I am immensely grateful for the service of Dana Remus, who has been an invaluable member of my senior staff for the past 3 years and helped reinstate a culture of adherence to the rule of law. I wish her the best as she moves forward”, Joe Biden said.

White House counsel Dana Remus made history by helping to confirm the first Black woman for the U.S. Supreme Court. She also set records for appointing dozens of lower court judges with diverse professional experiences, selecting public defenders and civil rights attorneys for posts that carry a lifetime tenure.

Current deputy White House counsel Stuart Delery will replace her, as part of a small White House staff shuffle as the country enters the final five months before the congressional midterm elections. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, at one point a contender to be Biden’s running mate, will become senior advisor for public engagement, the White House announced on Wednesday. Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Chavez Rodriguez will be promoted to senior advisor while continuing her current duties, as well.

Lance Bottoms is the best-known of the group, having led a major city during the pandemic and racial justice protests after the killing of George Floyd, while also dealing with a mass shooting targeting Asian-Americans and a large-scale cyberattack.

“Mayor Bottoms understands that democracy is about making government work for working families, for the people who are the backbone of this country. She led the city of Atlanta with strength through the pandemic, through a summer of protests and pain, and through the mass shooting that left Atlanta’s Asian American community in fear. Keisha is bright, honorable, tough, and has the integrity required to represent our Administration to the American public. Jill and I have known Keisha for a long time and look forward to working with her more closely”, the president said.

But that places a smiley face on what appears to be a mass exodus happening from the White House prior to the midterms.

With inflation, the fed raising rates, the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, a baby formula shortage, and other shortages an anonymous staffer said they are burned out, The Daily Mail reported.

“It’s been a long few year”, they said to the Hill. “The burnout is real. It might not be the ideal time to leave with everything going on, but it’s the right time”.

The source said the plan is to leave in the early months before it gets too close to the midterms.

“Given the complex challenges that the administration is facing, these departures are coming at an inopportune time”, Democratic strategist Joel Payne said

But, he said, “at this point in an administration, it is not abnormal to experience attrition”.

It comes as The Daily Caller, a conservative news website, contacted each of the 50 Democrat senators and asked them if they would support President Biden in 2024 and only five of them said yes, the news site reported.

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader and Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer responded to the Daily Caller with a one-word answer: “Yes”.

Spokespeople for Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Jack Reed of Rhode Island responded in the same way: “Yes”.

Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s spokesperson also said the senator would endorse Biden, noting, “Yes, Senator Booker supports President Biden for re-election should he run again in 2024”.

This weekend New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would not commit to supporting President Biden in 2024 on the CNN show “State of the Union” on Sunday.

“I just want to ask about President Biden. He is saying he’s going to run again in 2024. Will you support him?” host Dana Bash said.

“You know, if the president chooses to run again in 2024 — I mean, first of all, I’m focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority this year in 2022”, the representative said.

“So we will cross that bridge when we get to it. But I think, if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes”, she said.

“That’s not a yes”, the host said.

“Yes, I think we should endorse when we get to it”, the representative said.

“But I believe that the president has been doing a very good job so far. And should he run again, I think that — I think it’s — we will take a look at it. But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election”, she said.

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