Gene Sperling, a top economic adviser to President Joe Biden, is leaving his White House job to join Vice President Kamala Harris‘s 2024 campaign.
Sperling, who previously served as director of the National Economic Council under former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, is expected to fill the role of senior economic adviser to Harris.
Working under Biden, Sperling, who is from Michigan, was a core architect of the American Rescue Plan and has served as a key go-between for the administration and auto unions and companies.
His new role continues a trend on the part of the Harris campaign of seeking to connect the vice president with Biden’s White House accomplishments, without totally siloing the current president.
“Gene joined my administration as the only person to have ever directed the National Economic Council under two presidents, and has helped me execute a rescue plan that has led to one of the most equitable and resilient economic recoveries ever,” Biden said in a statement Monday confirming Sperling’s departure. “His work helped nearly 40 million working families get unprecedented child tax cut relief and over 8 million renters get emergency assistance to help keep their families housed. Under Gene’s leadership, the American Rescue Plan has delivered economic relief to cities and counties across the country, protected millions of union pensions, made the largest-ever federal investment in public safety, and kept thousands of small businesses afloat.”
“Our nation is stronger and more just because of the families that Gene has spent every day fighting for over the past three-and-a-half years,” the president concluded.
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Sperling joins the Harris team at a particularly busy time. The vice president is slated to announce her own running mate as soon as Monday, and on Tuesday, she’ll begin a battleground campaign tour that will see her and her new vice presidential pick hit seven states in five days.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) is viewed as a front-runner to be selected as Harris’s running mate, but some progressives have come out in opposition to his positions on Israel and are concerned about the impact his potential selection could have in Michigan, even if he helps Harris in Pennsylvania.