It’s a little odd that a change in the president’s chief of staff now warrants an ‘official transition event’ at the White House.
This morning, President Joe Biden released a lengthy statement singing the praises of his departing chief of staff, Ron Klain, and touting his incoming chief of staff, Jeff Zients. It’s not the biggest or most consequential decision in the world, but there’s a curious sentence at the end: “Next week, the White House will host an official transition event to thank Ron for his tireless work and officially welcome Jeff back to the White House in this role.”
Now if Biden wants to throw Klain a goodbye party, or have some get-together to welcome Zients back to the White House, that’s his right. But it’s new, and a little odd, that a change in the president’s chief of staff now warrants an “official transition event” at the White House. This isn’t naming a new captain to a U.S. Navy ship.
The position has only existed since the Truman administration, initially called “assistant to the president.” Yes, it’s a vitally consequential job, but it was always supposed to be the ultimate behind-the-scenes role. It doesn’t require Senate confirmation, and the job has no duties spelled out in law. A chief of staff’s ideology isn’t supposed to matter that much; it’s primarily an administrative role, carrying out the president’s wishes, ensuring the top priorities stay in focus, maintaining relationships with Congress, and keeping the trains running on time. The chief of staff often has to play bad cop to the president’s good cop, be the bearer of bad news, and take the heat for the president’s decisions. Jack Watson, who was President Jimmy Carter’s chief of staff, once compared it to being a “javelin catcher.”
Presidential chiefs of staff are important, but they’re not stars and aren’t supposed to be treated like stars. George Mason public policy professor James P. Pfiffner concluded in 1993, after studying the chiefs of staff to that point, “A chief of staff cannot do the job in complete anonymity, but people will notice if the chief of staff squeezes into every photo-opportunity.”
No previous president ever thought that his new chief of staff needed a “official transition event” at the White House. But this administration is very, very proud of itself.